Sweet secrets
by KupKakes09
Summary: Aleah Morrow has been kept on the outskirts of the club life, at least until she meets the new prospect Juice and gets thrown into a world of sex, drugs, and violence that she's never saw before. Collaboration with Jessica1018
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at a SOA fan fic, so please bear with me if I didn't get everything 100% correct. I did a lot of research of the guys ages to try and peg them down This starts before season 1, and will follow all of the seasons canon closely. Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 1 Cravin you like candy

Being a prospect was cool as hell and shitty as hell. It meant long ass work days like today was turning out to be. I didn't mind a little hard work every now and then but dammit this shit was never ending. The cool part were the bikes, the girls, and the guns.

"Juice, get everything ready for when we get out of chapel." Jax told me pausing outside of the door.

I nodded my head giving him a dummy salute. "Sure thing VP." All the bitch work was mine. Toilets, coffee, serving beer, human shield for the others, mechanic, and this morning I was everyone's alarm clock at 5am after we got shot at when the guys had taken me with them on a protection run. Who had shot at us, we didn't know yet.

The guys were all in chapel discussing the mornings events and I started making coffee, wiping down the bar and the few small tables we had. I didn't mind doing all of this if it meant I'd get a top rocker on my cut in a few more months. About 4 months to be exact. The life of an outlaw seemed to suit me just fine anyways. I'd been in and out of jail since I was a kid, petty thefts, low level hacking, and a few assaults.

I'd just gotten released from 6 months in the county for hacking into the DMV records and changing a few things around for a hit boss. At 23 I didn't have much interest in doing honest work. It didn't pay enough for me. Unfortunately that also meant I had to leave my life in Queens behind. My ma couldn't take it anymore, me being in trouble all the time, and my dad had never been in the picture. I knew it was better to go anyways and not involve her in any of the things I'd been doing.

So I hopped on my bike and drove. I'd always heard California was the place to be. The exact opposite of New York. I loved it here. It'd been 7 months since Tig had drug me over to his clubhouse telling me he needed some help with some computer things. We met by chance when I rolled into Charming from New York and hit it off. After doing a few small jobs for the SOA I knew I wanted to be a part of them. They were what I needed, a family. I'd had to leave everyone I knew and loved behind when I split town. So after talking it over with Jax we'd gotten Tig to agree to sponsor me to the MC. Jax had told me that they were my family now. To forget whoever I'd left behind in New York, that it didn't matter anymore. It'd meant a lot to me.

I had everything cleaned up with drinks sitting out when the guys came out of their meeting. I didn't get to sit at the table until I was a patched member and earned the privilege. "So did we figure out who shot at us?"

Jax shook his head running a hand through his hair. "No idea man, got a light?"

"Yeah sure." I replied dropping the one I kept in my own cigarette pack. "Guess I should go get started in the garage."

Clay nodded his head pushing his empty glass towards me. "Yeah you should. Its just you, Jax, and Chibs today."

"Hey how come the boss man never takes a turn putting tires on?" Tig asked pointedly. Tig avoided helping even more than Clay did.

Clay grinned. "Because the boss man earned the right to sit on his ass all day."

I chuckled with the rest, heading out from behind the bar and walking outside. I wasn't a half ass bad mechanic when I wanted to be. Having more than two hours of sleep helped. Having much of a personal life wasn't a real option either. I hadn't had a girlfriend since I was roughly 20, and never really looked for one since . Females were just something that didn't fit into this life unless you picked her up at a party. The only guys that had anything steady were Jax and Clay.

I worked on in silence in my own thoughts for most of the morning, doing odd jobs for the drive ins. Jax wasn't too bad work with, he was just as happy to work without speaking much as I was. I didn't know too much about anyone's personal life except for maybe his. And that was only because I'd helped him a few times with carrying his messed up wife home. It had to be true love to put up with a junky. I wouldn't ever do it. I didn't even like the habits I'd picked up, I couldn't imagine dealing with someone else's too.

A horn honked breaking me out of my own little world. The black Cadillac pulled up with Gemma waving to us as she headed inside the office. Gemma was exactly what every biker dreamed of. She was the most bad ass woman I'd ever met in my life. She wasn't bad looking for someone old enough to be my mother either. I wasn't dumb enough to let Clay know my opinion on his wife's appearance, he'd made it clear that his family was off limits and I'd yet to even meet all of them. He didn't seem big on bringing his little girl around, which I guess I wouldn't want my kids hanging out around us either.

I tossed the rag I was using to wipe the grease off of my hands down. "Hey Jax, I'm taking a break!" I called out to him wanting to go to the clubhouse for something to drink and snack on.

"Take your time man." Jax told me still working on the same car he'd started out with.

I headed across the parking lot to the clubhouse, glancing back over my shoulder. Two girls were getting out of Gemma's car. I paused lighting up a cigarette, trying not to look like I was staring at them. "Damn." I muttered under my breath when the girls walked to Jax laughing and talking to him. I should have stayed working.

They were hot. Gorgeous. One blonde and one brunette. The brunette really had my attention. She was shorter, a thicker build, and really pretty curls. I had no idea who they were but I wanted to find out. I took a long drag off my cigarette still observing them.

"Unless ye want Clay to bust yer head open, I'd suggest ye didn't look at his girls like that." Chib's heavily accented voice came out from behind me.

So one of them was the "little girl" he talked about all the time. "That's his daughter?" I asked in amazement tossing the butt to the ground. She definitely got her looks from Gemma then.

"The dark one. And he won't like ye looking and neither will Gemma." Chibs gave me a hard look. "You stay clear of the both of them."

Last thing I needed was trouble out of the club. I was too close to patching in. But it never hurt to look. "No worries. Just curious man." I told him grinning. "I thought she'd be… a kid."

"She _is_ a kid." Chibs snapped back at me. "My niece is only 17."

Shit. Definitely staying away. "Oh. Shit." I laughed shaking my head. "I'll see you back at the garage." I took off inside the clubhouse before he could say anything else. I felt like a dirty old man and at 23 I wasn't even close to being a dirty old man.

I piddled around inside, drinking a couple Cokes, snacking on pretzels and surfing the net for a few minutes. Just killing time. Only two more hours until I could close the garage down since it was a Saturday. Then it was back to being Bartending Betty for these jackasses. Downing the rest of my drink I walked back out running into Clay.

"Hey Prospect, when you get done with those tires go make sure the bar is stocked." Clay ordered me smoking a cigarette. It was Saturday night time for a party.

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah sure." I managed to reply. The man terrified me. But in a good way.

Clay looked over at me giving me an appraising glance. I knew he thought I was pretty useless and a fuck up. He was intimidating as hell. The club prez was probably one of the most bad ass men I knew. "You thinking about sticking this through?"

I nodded quickly stopping to light a cigarette. "Hell yeah." I said taking a drag. I was turning into a chain smoker hanging out around these guys.

"Good." he said waving to the girls walking our way. Perfect. Now I could get a good look at what I couldn't touch.

"Hey Daddy" the Brunette spoke hugging him.

Clay hugged her back taking the invoice from her. "Hey sweetheart. Did Mom tell you I can't make it today?"

She nodded her blue eyes looking me over along with the blondes, the blonde being a little bit more obvious about it then she was. I gave her a grin using Clay's distraction to look her over too. Jail bait had never looked as good in a pair of jeans as it did right now. She was thicker than the blonde, not fat just thicker, and had a pretty nice rack in my opinion. Her blue eyes met mine for a brief moment, causing me to instantly get a jolt of nervousness. She bit her bottom lip still checking me out.

"Juice take this back over to Jax tell him he's off by $40" Clay ordered me handing me the papers. "And tell Gemma not to take a check from them. Cash only."

I nodded "Sure thing boss." I knew as soon as I walked away I'd have four eyes on my back.

I gave the brunette one last look before I jogged off to the garage. I could see why no one ever brought her around. She didn't look like Clay that was for damn sure. The blonde was okay, but I'd always been more of a brunette type of guy. She was too skinny anyways. I glanced back over my shoulder approaching Jax.

"Here. Clay said add $40, no checks cash only." I told him holding the invoice out. "So, umm I didn't know you had a sister." I tried to sound nonchalant about it.

Jax looked up from the car he was finishing. "Yeah. Stepsister. Clay's daughter." he grinned. "What's it to you?"

I shrugged quickly and ran a hand over my Mohawk. "Just making conversation." I said defensively.

He snorted a laugh. "Sure you are bro. I'll go ahead and tell you before Clay does. Stay away from her and her friend unless you want 25 years in prison and Clay's foot in your skull."

Gemma came out from the office, stuffing papers in her gigantic purse. "I'm leaving baby." she told Jax sliding her sunglasses on. "Why don't you and the junky come by later for dinner?"

Jax sighed giving her a look. "I don't know. And stop calling her that."

Gemma just cast him a small smile and started for her car. "Me and Luann are taking Aleah shopping with her friend. Call if you need me."

Aleah. It fit her. It was a pretty name. I watched on as the black Caddy drove over to the girls and picked them up. Aleah and the blonde crawled in the back giving me a great view of both asses. I stared a moment too long though and Clay's eyes hit me. My blood ran cold and I scrambled to look busy. "Shit." I cussed going back to the tire pile to finish stacking them.

Work pretty much sucked dick the rest of the day until we closed down the garage, pulling off our uniform shirts for our cuts. Mine only said Prospect but it was better than nothing. "Juice, get me a beer." the orders started coming at me from everywhere.

I ran around grabbing them what they wanted knowing they did it just to mess with me most of the time. "You feel like coming out for a ride?" Bobby asked me guzzling on the Budweiser I'd just handed him.

"Hell yeah." I replied quickly. "Another run?" I loved that stuff. It was where all the fun was at. The adrenaline rush was sick as hell each time they invited me out. I knew I was more of a warm body than the muscle for now, but that was fine by me as long as I got to go. They were running short of SAMCRO members with Opie in jail, Kyle thrown out, and Piney disabled.

Tig smirked over at me his dark sticking up in a million different direction. "Obviously." He tapped on the bar. "Get me a drink shit head."

It was the shit like that that made putting up with this hard. Usually, I wouldn't let anyone talk to me like that. I was in no way a fighter at heart but I didn't take shit off of anyone. Even a few assault charges didn't break me from that. "Yeah. Sure." I told him going down to the other end of the bar.

"Finish that and get ready to go." Jax told me swirling his finger around in his own glass. "Bring the Glock I gave you."

I nodded shoving the drink at Tig and heading off to the dorm room I'd been using. I had a pretty nice place on the other side of town to myself but it was just easier some nights to crash here. The drive home was short but when you're up for 22hrs straight you just don't want to drive. I grabbed the gun, loaded it and put in the waist of my jeans. I'd never in my life thought I'd be shooting at people for a living. A hour later we were cruising the streets that belonged to the Mayans. And two hours later, we were heading back to our clubhouse with only a few injuries.

**Aleah's pov**

I was laying halfway off my bed letting the sunshine land on my face, drinking it in enjoying the peacefulness of the house. It was rarely this quiet when everyone was at home at the same time. It was even rarer for all of us to be under the same roof at once. My dad was usually gone, either at his garage or at some type of work thing.

Work thing meaning he was out doing things I never knew about, but I didn't ask to know either. Growing up with Clay Morrow as your dad meant you didn't get a lot of info on everything he did, you just knew he was alive and kicking. He wasn't a bad Dad, just a different one. I was the only kid at school whose dad was the leader of a motorcycle club which earned me major cool points once I got to high school. The Sons of Anarchy were pretty well known here in Charming.

Mom, on the other hand, was either at the garage working as my dad's secretary or here at the house trying to be super mom. She'd really backed off some though once my stepbrother Jax had moved out a few years ago. He'd gotten through to her that we were all growing up and couldn't baby us forever. At 27 and 17, she'd finally decided to cut the cords on both of us.

"Aleah?" I heard Mom's voice come through the door as she rapped on it.

I knew my quiet wouldn't last. "I'm up Mom." I sighed rolling over, sitting up just as she opened the door.

Mom instantly started picking up laundry off the floor throwing it in the basket. She was already dressed and had her dark hair fixed with a full face of make up. "If you want me to take you and Jessica shopping you better get up. Dad left early for a work emergency." she caught my eye and smiled at me her dark eyes warm.

I nodded pushing the yellow blanket back stretching. "Yeah we do. I think she's still asleep. I thought Dad was taking the day off to come with us?."

I walked over to the closet grabbing jeans and the first shirt I saw. Light pink plain shirt. I didn't go for flashy. Flashy was more of my mom's style. Leather, black, and tight were usually her main requirements. Maybe we had different taste because she wasn't actually my mother.

"He wanted to, but you know how it is. Things happen." She said watching me rifle through my stuff before trudging into the bathroom that adjoined to the guest room next to it. "Wake her up or she gets left." Mom said giving me a look. And she meant it. When Gemma Teller told you move your ass, you better do it.

I nodded knocking once before I flung open the door. "Ohhh Jesss!" I sang out plopping down on the small twin bed as hard as I could. "Get up!"

I heard a small groan as the bump in the dark blue comforter moved around. "Trust me I am up. Pops and Mama Gemma aren't exactly quiet in ummm, showing their love for each other in the morning." she said poking her head out of the sheet her blonde hair looking like a stack of hay.

Knocking made us both jump. "We're up!" we snapped at the same time before laughing.

"20 minutes or I'm shopping for you.!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up running my hands through my long dark hair. "Come on. Let's get ready for a fun filled day of hanging out with my mother."

My mom wasn't really too bad to be around. She would do anything, and I mean anything for us kids. Especially her Jax. She wasn't actually my mom, but I knew she deserved the title more than the lady that had given birth to me. Gemma had raised me since I was 4 and my mom couldn't take care of me anymore. Dad was too busy for a toddler so it fell on her to handle all of us on her own. She treated me like her own daughter and I knew in her eyes I always would be. They were both way harder on me than they were Jax, but I guess it was the sexism in the family. I had a whole list of don'ts and Jax grew up wild as hell.

A hour later after we'd primped, Jessica more than me of course, the girl was a living Barbie doll, we piled into the caddy and headed to the garage to grab cash from my Dad. Jessica absolutely loved when we took her with us. We'd been friends since kindergarten, and for the past year almost inseparable. She stayed at our house more than hers, and my parents kinda took her in helping her out like she was theirs.

We looked completely opposite of each other. I was a brunette with blue eyes, she was blonde with green eyes, I was built thicker, not fat but a bigger body type, and she was a walking stick with boobs. Personalities were way different too. I was quiet, she was loud. But we had the same taste in guys. Which is why neither of us complained when we pulled up and Mom told us to get out that it'd be a few minutes.

It was busy with the men in my dad's MC working at a past pace. Every bay had a car in it and the tow truck was gone. Growing up I'd thought it was the coolest thing ever that my dad drove it until I started to get older and see him on his Dyna. The guys here were all like family to us.

"Hey Lee-Lee!" I heard my brother's voice call out from the beat up old Ford Escort that was pulled into one of the bays of the garage. He was leaned over the motor waving at us his blonde hair caked in motor oil.

I nudged Jess "Come on." I whispered. "The guys are over there." There wasn't usually much to look at considering how old they all were but sometimes we got lucky.

She grinned grabbing my hand as we walked over. "Hey handsome." she said flirtily to Jax.

He gave a wink back grinning. "What are you kiddos doing here?" he said wiping his hands off on a rag before giving me a one armed hug.

"Mom said she needed to hit Dad up for cash." I said rolling my eyes. "I think she's more interested in shopping for herself than me."

Jessica was still staring at him, looking at him in a way that disgusted me. She'd always had a crush on him. The fact that he was married to his junky whore didn't phase her at all. "We don't mind the stop." She said leaning up against the car flipping her hair.

He rolled his eyes as he scribbled on an invoice. "I'm sure you two don't." he ripped the paper off of the pad and handed it to me. "Can you take this to Clay to double check for me? Tell him I'm finishing up now."

I nodded motioning for Jessica to follow me through the maze of tires, oil, and random motorcycle parts. Cleanliness didn't seem to be on a biker gangs list of priorities. "Don't fall." I warned her stepping through a pile of what I dubbed kitty litter, aka spill cleaner, as I spotted my dad standing outside the clubhouse smoking.

"Dammnnnnn…" Jess breathed beside, seeing what I saw at the same time.

A very hot, very young prospect. "Geez, don't make it obvious." I hissed to her as she stared. It was hard not to though. He was the best looking prospect I'd ever saw since I was old enough to actually care. He had dark tan skin, a Mohawk, and tons of tattoos down his muscled arms. He wasn't a big guy, but there was something about him that had my attention. He looked menacing but kinda like a puppy at the same time.

"Who is he?" she whispered as we were feet away from my dad.

I racked my brain. I didn't usually ask my dad who any of the guys were around his clubhouse. Dad didn't really like for me to hang out inside, he said I didn't need to be around any of the stuff that went on there. I knew he was involved in something illegal, but what I had no idea and no one ever offered to tell me. I wasn't stupid and I was no angel, but if it made my dad happy to pretend to be innocent then so be it. The only MC members I had anything to do with were the older ones that I grew up with as Uncles. Or in Opie's case, a brother.

"No idea." I whispered back as we approached the white haired man wearing sunglasses. "Hey Daddy." I said smiling and hugging him breathing in the smell of his leather cut.

Dad gave me a tight hug back, looking tired and grumpy. "Hey sweetheart. Did Mom tell you I can't come today?" he said taking the invoice I held out to him.

The prospect stood beside him, looking nervous and half ass scared. I glanced at him giving him a small smile as I let my eyes rake over him. He looked even better up close up. I'd never in a million years make a move though. Dad would kill me or Jess if we even made the attempt to hook up with one of his guys. The prospect gave me a goody grin back returning the checkout slyly.

I nodded kicking some gravel around with the tip of my sequined covered TOM. "Yeah, its okay. I understand." I told him. "Maybe next time." Next time almost always got canceled with him. It was club then family for him. Annoying and hurtful, but true.

"Juice, take this back over to Jax and tell him he's off by $40." Dad said writing on it. "Then tell Gemma I said not to take a check from them. Cash only."

Juice. I almost laughed when I heard his name. Who the hell gets a nickname like that? Juice the prospect nodded and took off with the invoice glancing at me then Jess one last time. "Sure thing boss." He said his voice fitting him perfectly. The back view of him was as good as the front.

"Where'd he come from?" Jessica asked trying to sound innocent as she looked after him too.

Dad shrugged lighting a cigarette. "From around. Just another damn kid trying to get in. No one for you two to be worried about." he said pointedly. "Don't you two have some school shit to go get?"

Jess shook her head her green eyes looking sheepish. "I'm just going for the ride Pops." she told him with a small smile.

Dad glanced down at me asking me a silent question. I shook my head at him knowing what he wanted to know. Jessica's family wasn't exactly poor. But they weren't exactly doing okay either. I knew she didn't have any money with her to buy anything. Most of the stuff she had now was stuff Mom picked up for her.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet opening it up. "Here." He said handing her the bills. "Nothing slutty, tight, or short." he told her laying down the same rules I had for wardrobe. Dad pretty much expected me to dress like a nun. In his mind, I was still 3 and not supposed to look like an actual woman. At 17 it was getting ridiculous.

Jess bit her bottom lip, looking embarrassed. "You don't have to-" she started to say before he cut her off.

"I know I don't have to." he said giving her the same look that scared grown men. "Just take it and get what you need."

A horn honked interrupting the conversation. "Your Mom's ready." Dad said squashing out his cigarette. "Don't bleed me too dry." he joked walking to the black Cadillac with us to see Mom.

I crawled in the tiny backseat with Jess crawling in beside me. "Why don't you grab some stuff for Lowell while you're already there?" I heard him telling Mom.

Lowell was another castoff my parents tried to help whenever they could. His dad used to work for mine and apparently he'd made him promise that he'd take care of him. Dad took it to heart so whenever Lowell needed a job, Dad gave him one, when he needed stuff for school he got it. Every now and then Lowell would come stay a few nights at the house with us.

"Sure thing baby." She told him leaning her head up to kiss him.

Blech. They acted like they were teenagers sometimes. Jess elbowed me and jerked her head to the side discretely. I followed her lead and got another glimpse of the Mohawked biker boy rolling tires around. Too bad it'd never happen even if he was cute.

The 3 boyfriends I'd had weren't anything close to being bikers which made the parents happy. I'd been told a million times that they had high hopes for me. I just wasn't sure I wanted the same things for me that they did. I felt pretty content to stay in Charming, they wanted me to graduate this year and go off to college since Jax didn't go. At 18 he'd joined the MC our dads had founded and was living the life they didn't want for me.

**A/N- The first chapter is always a little bleh in my opinion, but please stick with it, the club drama starts happening soon, along with some fluff stuff. Its worth sticking it through :D Thanks for reading and please review even if its to tell me to sucks, I welcome constructive criticism. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews last chapter! Reviews are good motivation. Special thanks goes to Jessica1018 for letting me brainstorm all day and night with her. And I am betaing this myself so I apologize if there are any major mistakes, I tried. Finally, I have found two amazingly good Juice/OC stories. The first one is "Hands all over" by LoveInk , its very well written and completely canon. The next one is "Make me Right" by laughing warrior and its slightly AU but still extremely good. Hope these ladies don't mind me pimpin their fics here!**

Disclaimer: I do not own SOA, Kurt Sutter has that honor. All I own is Aleah.

**Chapter 2 Bleedin heart, bleedin brakes**

It was a dreary Thursday morning when I woke up. Even the bright blue paint in my room couldn't make it cheerful. The light rain was tapping against the window as I laid in my bed knowing I needed to get up and start getting ready. I had to go learn how to do the invoices and credit cards at the garage for my mom. It'd been her idea of me getting some extra cash. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be working on every Saturday from here on out but everyone had to start somewhere.

I got up finally after a few minutes, dragging myself to my bathroom to crawl in the shower to try and wake myself up. Jess had went home after being here for a week. It was always really quiet without her here with me. I shut the water off grabbing a huge fluffy white towel to wrap up in, careful not to slip on the tile. "What to wear, what to wear?" I muttered going to dig in my closet.

Not like there was going to be anyone to impress there. Not unless the hot Mohawked Prospect was there. Juice my dad had called him. Juice had been on my mind for a few days. There was just something about him. Maybe it was the hair. Or the tattoos I thought to myself as I reached in the closet and grabbed a simple pair of PINK lounge pants and the hoodie that went with it.

"Ready Lee?" Mom asked just opening the door and letting herself in. "Are you wearing that?" she asked glancing at the clothes.

I jumped glad I was already pulling my pants on. I wasn't extremely comfortable with anyone seeing me undressed. I wasn't disgustingly fat or something but my body was private. "Thanks for knocking." I said grumpily sitting down on the bed to put socks on. "And yes I'm ready."

"Come on. We're late." she said glancing in the mirror before heading out. "Can't trust the Prospect alone for long. Your dad and the club's out running errands all day."

_Dad sure has been running a lot of _e_rrands_ I thought to myself as I grabbed my purse and make up bag. Make up was a must since he would be there. Even if he was out of my league I didn't want to look totally gross either. I got in Mom's Caddy buckling up before putting my make up while she drove. I took more care than I normally would have, doing the works. My long dark hair would just have to settle for a bun today since I didn't take the time to fix it.

"This place is dead." I observed when we pulled in. The parking lot was empty except for 3 cars and I was pretty sure one of them belonged to Wendy. God I hoped she wasn't around. I couldn't take being around my brothers wife for long. Drugged or un drugged didn't make a difference, we just didn't click good together. Her idea of a good time was shooting up and mine was curling up with a book for the night. Socially awkward is how Jax used to describe me.

"Yep. It'll give you a chance to learn before I leave you here alone this weekend." Mom replied grabbing her smokes and her purse. "Come on. I'll get you started."

I climbed out of the car, following her inside. The bottom of my baby blue lounge pants were already soaked. Rain sucks for short people. The office was unlocked and I could hear banging around in the garage which told me Juice was out there working on something. I plopped down in the rickety old desk chair. "Its smelly in here." I observed looking at the bikini pics taped on the wall beside me. "Do I get to change the décor?"

Mom laughed turning on the copier, reaching for the side door that led to the garage. "They'll just put more up. Trust me." She propped the door open. "Here, maybe the fresh air will get some of the stink out."

"Yeah. Dirty mechanic isn't my favorite fragrance." I picked up a stack of papers off of the desk to look through. "This doesn't look that hard."

"Its not. Oh hey Juice." I heard her say. "Clay wanted you to do the brakes on the car today too." She hit the start button on the coffee pot.

"Morning Gem." I looked up, seeing him in the opened doorway. "I think I have some brakes that'll work." He gave me a lazy grin showing me his perfect teeth. I had a feeling everything on his body would be perfect . "Hey, I'm Juice." He held out his hand looking at me in a way that made me feel like my cheeks were turning red. He had on the basic work uniform the garage supplied, already greasy, hugging his body in all the right places.

I leaned up across the desk to shake his hand. "I'm Aleah." I managed to get out without squeaking. "I saw you the other day when I came to see my dad."

"Yeah I remember you." He told me his warm brown eyes still on mine. "I didn't know you worked here though."

"She does now." Mom said moving between us to get to the computer. "She'll be here on Saturdays, so don't give her any shit."

I rolled my eyes moving out of her way standing up to let her sit down. "I can take care of myself.". The absolute last place I ever expected to get harassed at was at the garage. My dad would neuter whoever did.

"Well I'll be out here if you need me." Juice told Mom lighting up a cigarette. "I'll do your car as soon as I'm caught up."

She waved him off typing into the ancient computer. "Whenever." she motioned for me to come closer. "Here you give this a try."

I gave Juice a small wave bye as he started to slip back outside. He winked at me before backing out. "So, this is all I do all day?" I asked Mom peering over her shoulder. Hot guys, easy desk job, and I get paid to do nothing if there's no customers, not a bad gig.

"Yep. Can I trust you over alone for a bit? I'm going to go to the clubhouse get some things done over there." She was always the one that ended up doing the dirty work over there, making sure everything was clean and if it wasn't, telling someone what to do.

I shrugged zipping up my blue hoodie. "Yeah sure. I'll get some reading done." I took a book in my purse pretty much anywhere I went. Never can tell when you might need entertainment.

The thunder crashed down outside causing us to both jump. "I better make a run for it. If someone comes in before I come back over that needs something you don't know, just ask Juice."

I nodded my head my bun bobbing up and down. "I'll be fine." I had no intentions of doing anything but sending a few texts and digging my novel out.

"I'll make some lunch while I'm over there. The club should be back soon too."

Mom grabbed the little black leather jacket she always wore and held it over her head when she opened the door taking off across the parking lot. I smiled to myself picturing her teetering through puddles in her knee high hooker boots. "What's so funny?" Juice's deep voice broke through my thoughts.

I jumped up slamming my knee into the desk. "Shit!" I exclaimed the pain spreading through. "What the…. What are you doing in here?" I groaned rubbing my knee. "You can't sneak up on people like that!"

Juice laughed walking across the tiny space holding his hands out to me. "Come on. Walk it out, it'll help" he suggested. "I'll even help you get up since you're crippled."

I glared at his hands for a moment before placing mine in his. My hands looked dainty compared to his beat up and filthy ones. "I don't know if I want to know what's all over your hands."

He pulled me up slowly holding onto my hands with a tight grip. "Dirty hands are the sign of a hard working man."

"Oh yeah? Funny how I've never saw you out working until this week."

Juice smirked at me taking a few steps back, still holding onto my hands. "I do other types of work besides mechanics for your dad if you must know."

"Wait til I tell him you hurt my knee." I popped off to him knowing I wouldn't. I pulled my hands away from his suddenly aware of how close we were.

He backed away some still looking at me. I could have sworn I saw his eyes on my chest but who am I kidding? Lets not flatter myself. "Toughen up."

I rolled my eyes at him walking around some, surprising myself with how at ease I was with him. "Sorry we can't all be big tough bikers."

Juice laughed at me motioning to follow him into the garage. "Is that how you see me? Some big tough guy?" he sounded amused. He led through the piles on tools to where he was working.

I sat down on the little rolly chair watching him kneel back down by the car. "Aren't you? I mean that's the image the MC usually puts out." I pushed my myself back and forth on the chair keeping an eye on what he was doing.

"I guess so. I don't think I'm quite on the same level of tough as Clay yet. Or Tig." he looked over his shoulder at me. "Why don't you ever come around here?"

_Because my parents think I'm am innocent child still. _"I usually have a lot of my own stuff going on. Dad doesn't like me around whatever it is you guys do up here and I don't mean the cars." I laughed. "You don't seem like you really fit in up here either."

Juice stood up brushing his hands off on his Dickies "I drive a Harley, drink, watch Star Trek, and work on cars. Of course I fit in."

"Yeah but most of my dad's friends are like… old." I told him not wanting to offend him in some way. I had no idea how old he was. Way older than me I knew but that didn't mean much.

Juice gave me a goofy looking grin motioning for me to stand up. "I don't think I'm too old. Besides being the young guy around here has its perks. It means I get the younger, hotter girls."

"How young exactly?" I asked him pushing him the stool with my foot. "Most girls would kill for a guy with a cut on his back even if it does just say Prospect." I knew for a fact that the females in this town went for the SOA, I'd seen the way they'd stare at my dad or brother. Heck even Jess was into it.

Juice sat down on the stool and leaned back looking under the hood of the old Volvo he'd been working on. "Older than I look. I turned 24 a few months ago."

24. Geez. That made my 17 sound like a baby. "Oh. You're right. Not too old. You're younger than my brother." Jax was knocking on 26 now.

"Yeah. He's a pretty cool guy. That's how I met the club, I met him first." He was making little clinking sounds with whatever he was doing. "What about you kid? What are you 14?"

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. 14 was a really low blow either way. "Screw you. I'm 17." glanced at the open bay. "Doesn't look like its ever going to stop raining."

Juice stood up to shut the hood on the car, his eyes looking out the pouring rain. "What? You don't like getting caught in the rain?" he joked.

I rolled my eyes walking beside him. "Do you have half a brain?" I shot back smiling.

"I'm guessing you're not into yoga?" Juice shot me a grin before we both started laughing.

Lightning popped lighting up the sky. "Damn. I thought the guys would be back before all of this." he said leaning on the bay doorway. "So do you-"

The ringing office phone cut in before he could say anything else. "I better grab that." I hurried back into the office. "Teller-Morrow Garage, this is Aleah speaking." I answered cheerfully my grumpiness from the morning was all gone after joking around with Juice.

"Don't you sound happy to be working in the dirty mechanic office?" Mom's voice said on the other end. "Get Juice and come on over to the clubhouse, I made tacos." The line clicked letting me know she'd hung up.

I grabbed my phone out of my silver Michael Kors and slipped it in my pocket. "Juice! Mom said she made lunch next door!" I called out feeling awkward by actually calling a grown man Juice. I had to find out where that name came from.

"I'll be over there in a few!" I heard him yell back.

The rain started to lighten a teeny bit when I made my run for the clubhouse. I splashed through the puddles until I made it to the door. "You could have sent us a boat." I grumbled to my Mom when she came out of the small kitchen carrying a couple plates. "Or at least some galoshes."

"You look like a drowned rat." she paused to light up a smoke. "What happened to the Prospect?"

I sat down at the small worn table trying to wring my hair out. "He said he'd be over here in a few minutes. I don't know what he was doing."

"You look like you're in a better mood." she commented peering out of the small window. "Here he comes. He been bugging you?"

I shook my head picking up one of the tacos she'd fixed for me. "Nah. He's pretty quiet." I had no idea why I lied. Something told me to keep mine and Juice's conversation to myself. "He's been messing with those cars all day."

Mom opened the door up for him. "Clay called, said they'd be back in about two hours. Said to tell you have everything picked up. They had some unexpected stops."

A look passed between them I couldn't read. "Oh. Okay. I'm all done except for your brakes anyways." He pulled a chair out across the table from me. "Thanks for the food."

She waved him off walking back to the kitchen. "Just get my damn brakes done and we're even."

We ate in silence, both of us kind of sneaking peeks at the other one. "You go to high school?" he finally asked breaking the ice.

I nodded wiping my mouth with a paper towel. "Yeah Charming high. I'm a senior."

"And then she's going to college." Mom said coming back out with some more napkins for us. "Whether she wants to or not."

Juice took a long sip of his drink, swallowing hard. "Yeah I graduated too. No college though. Didn't fit into my lifestyle."

Mom laughed pulling out a chair to sit beside me. "It hasn't fit into anyone's lifestyle here."

"I might go. I haven't decided yet." I spoke up. "Guess I should head back over to the office in case someone calls."

"You making it ok over there ok Lee Lee?" She asked reaching over to stack my plate on top of Juice's already empty one.

I got up pushing my chair underneath the table suddenly aware of how my wet shirt was sticking to me underneath the hoodie. "Yep. Its nice and slow over there." I starting walking towards the door. "I'll have everything ready to close when Juice does."

"Guess I better head back over too." He said standing up with a groan. "I think I know how slaves used to feel ."

"Just be happy you're not doing the toilets." Mom told him with her signature smirk.

I cracked a smile at the mental image of him scrubbing the disgusting clubhouse bathrooms. "Later Mom."

Juice followed after me taking longer strides to catch up. "You think you could help me do some stuff?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, not liking the idea of getting dirty one bit. "Depends on what you want." I wasn't a dirty, messy type of girl. Clean and indoors was more me.

"Just to help me with the brakes."

"Hmmm… I could probably do that." I slipped my sopping wet hoodie off once we got inside the office again. "Just let me know when."

The door made a loud squeak when he opened it to go back to the open garage. "It'll be a few minutes."

I was no idiot. I knew what he was looking at when the hint of a grin started on his face before he took off.

An hour passed by without him coming back inside . That kind of made me feel like I was reading way more into this morning than I should be. I finally got tired of waiting and peeked out from the around the door, seeing what he was doing. He had pulled the Caddy into the bay and was messing with it, his wet clothes sticking to him showing me just what I had suspected was true. Juice had an amazing body. And he was a dork. I saw Scooby Doo boxers peeking out of the waistband on his pants.

I crept back in the office freezing when I heard him speak. "You can come out here you know. I won't bite."

Busted. He knew I was staring the entire time. "Just seeing what you were doing." I tried to explain my cheeks warming up.

Juice stood up wiping his hands on his pants giving me a look that told me he didn't believe me. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Sure. What am I doing?" I asked. "Or are you luring me out here to take advantage of me?" I joked.

Juice snorted opening the drivers side door up for me. "I need you to press the brakes while I bleed them."

I bit my lip trying to decide if I should tell him I'd never been behind the wheel of a car. Mom said there wasn't enough weed in the clubhouse to get her to teach me to drive and Dad said he'd made it through Vietnam and raising Jax so his work as a parent was complete. I took the cowards way out and clambered inside the car sliding across the smooth black leather seat.

"Just tell me when." I told him trying to act like I knew what I was doing. I fiddled with the radio knobs, adjusting them.

He walked over to the long shelves that ran down the back wall of the garage and grabbed a small pan to slide under the car. "Go ahead."

I decided to play it safe and hit both at the same time. The car wasn't running so I didn't see the danger in it. "No problemo." I peeked around the door at him crouched down beside the car again. "So, don't you get sick of being here all the time?"

Juice shook his head, pulling the pan back out from the drivers side of the car. "Nah. Its pretty entertaining. Plus the help on Saturday is kinda promising to be a good thing."

I felt a jolt in my stomach. "Oh yeah? Too bad its only Thursday then." I joked pressing the brakes again for him when he motioned for it.

"Can you back up some? Just enough for me to check something out." He asked me flashing another one those goofy grins at me.

Shit. I knew this would happen. I turned the key, I knew that much. "Umm… I actually…." I trailed off. Gas right gotta hit the gas. It was all coming to me now.

"Whoa! What the hell are you doing?!" He rushed over nearly crushing me when he jumped across me to turn the car off. "You had it in neutral!"

The burn in my cheeks gave away to me that I was blushing. "Sorry… I was distracted." Just I was now being so close to him again. The smell of motor oil, cigarettes, and cologne was hitting me pretty heavily.

Taking the keys out of the ignition Juice leaned back up starting to slide back out of the car. He paused and looked at me biting his very kissable bottom lip. We spent at least a minute just staring at each others faces before he finally leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. They were surprisingly soft and knew exactly how to move on my own.

I shut my eyes drinking it in. No one, and I mean no one in my life had kissed me like this before. His mouth completely covered mine and I could taste the gum he must have been chewing when he pushed his tongue into my mouth. The second I started to put my hand on his cheek he jerked back away from me. "Shit… I shouldn't have done that. Fuck…. ." Juice was halfway across the garage before I'd even crawled out of the car.

"No. Its okay." I said quickly not sure if it really was okay. "I mean, I wanted you to." Dammit I was blushing again.

Juice shook his head at me keeping away like I had the plague. "No its not okay. You're… and you're….." he looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"I'm what?" I snapped taking it offensively. "You know what? Forget it." I started to storm off away back to the office.

"No, wait. No keep going. Wait. We can't…. " Juice ran his hands over the tribal tattoos on his head. "Its not you really-its just…. I'm sorry ok?"

The rumble of motorcycles broke through the light rain hitting the ground. "Its fine." I told him in a strained voice before turning and walking back into the office.

Rejection. What had I really been expecting? I didn't know if he was sorry he'd kissed me because he didn't want to or because he thought I was gross or something. It didn't matter anyways. Juice was something I couldn't have.

**Does it suck? I'm still going to say the first couple chapters of this fic aren't my favorite bc the drama isn't really there, but I had to layout some ground work on their relationship. I know a lot of people don't like the teenage girl/ Son relationship but I think in Juice's case it works. He's not crazily old or graying or something. **

**Now…. Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews last chapter! They reallllly help motivate when I sit down to beta these chapters. Thanks also goes to Jessica1018 for her help with this story, every suggestion truly helps. And I discovered another sweet Juice story by an author named "Bad Company" I literally sat up all night reading it last night. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sons of Anarchy, Kurt Sutter does. All I own is Aleah and Jessica. **

**Watch out for cussin', underage makin out', and all the violence still to come!**

Chapter 4 In the shadows

I was dreading this day. My mom was having one of her SAMCRO family dinners meaning my house was about to be packed to the brim with bikers and their Old Ladies. Part of me was hoping Wendy was too strung out to come. Jax had sent her over to the garage on last Saturday while I was working to keep me company, and it was a disaster. I knew it was his way of trying to get us to accept her but well, lets face it, there's just some people you're never going to like.

"Aleah, Jess, I need you girls to set the table and go out to the sunroom and bring in the card table from out there." Mom ordered running around stirring things. She was the only woman I'd ever saw cook in heels and leather so tight I had no idea how she moved.

I groaned inwardly dragging my bare feet across the tile floor over to the cabinet. "Why can't they use paper plates?" I grumbled taking a stack of the red plates out. It'd be me that had to wash all this junk later.

Jess grabbed the silverware out of the drawer and started placing it down on the dark mahogany table her blonde hair swinging back and forth. "At least they're fun to look at." She winked at me reminding me again of why I wasn't excited for this dinner.

Juice had avoided me all day last Saturday. It was like we never talked much less did anything else three days ago. I didn't speak to him either though so I guess I didn't have much to complain about. If I went to the garage area for something he stepped out of it to smoke, if he needed to know something from the office he asked Jax or Chibs. I thought I saw him looking at me a couple times when I was getting ready to leave but it could just be hopeful teenage girl crazyness.

"There better not be any looking. At anyone." Dad said coming in the dining room space holding his arms out for Mom to button his shirt. Some days were better than others for his hands. "You two have 20 more years before you're allowed to date and then you're not allowed to date my guys."

"Who all did you invite?" Mom asked him hurrying to finish up the buttons to get back to the kitchen where the aroma of the meatloaf was loud and clear.

Dad pushed the chair out from the head of the table and sat down shrugging his wide shoulders. "I don't know. Everyone. I told the Prospect to come too."

"Good. The more the merrier." She came out carrying a serving dish in each hand. "Girls go grab the others then go change. Luann should be here soon."

At the same time we looked down at what we were wearing. Shorts and tank tops. "Fine." I sighed trudging off with Jess at my heels.

"Did you hear? He's coming." She whispered to me. "We have to like, get his attention on you again."

I shook my head glancing at the doorway making sure no one was coming in. "No way. He's not interested." I whispered back wishing I'd never told her what had happened. It was just way too good to keep to myself at the time. Now it was just plain out embarrassing to be dissed like this.

Jessica grabbed the huge salad bowl and the tongs off of the counter giving me a look . "Yes he is. I think he's just scared of Pops or something."

That would be completely understandable. I'd had a few dates scared off by my dad. The President of a MC cleaning a gun when you came to his house usually did the trick for most high school boys. "I don't know Jess…" I sighed getting the potatoes heading back to the dining room. "This is it Mom." I told her making a face at her and Dad kissing. "We're going to change. I think I hear someone pulling in."

No sooner did we shut the door did I hear Luann's too loud voice, Chib's heavily accented one, and a few others I couldn't place. The beer was already being passed around, this was going to be a long night.

After we'd gotten ready and I changed into a pair of white slacks and a yellow shirt, the party was in full swing. People from the MC were sitting and standing everywhere talking, laughing, and passing the couple of babies around. I looked around the room smiling and saying hi to Chibs, Tig, and Bobby. Bobby was still in his Elvis costume from a gig earlier, making me laugh a little at the sight of it. Luann was here with one of her girls in tow helping Mom out with everything.

I didn't see the one biker I had hoped would come but didn't want to come at the same time. "He's here." Jess whispered coming up behind me. "I just saw him out by the garage taking the trash out for your Mom."

I followed her gaze to the living room window, spotting him instantly . He was standing by the big redwood in our yard smoking, looking uncomfortable. He had dark jeans, a plain white shirt and his cut but still looked unbelievably sexy. "Shhh. Don't make it obvious" I whispered to her. If he wasn't interested neither was I. "I don't want anyone to hear who we're talking about."

"Shouldn't you be out on a date? Not hanging around these bums?" Luann's voice broke through my thoughts.

Laughing I turned to face her. She was still pretty, but she was one of those women that would always look hard and rough after the life she'd had. "No such luck. Dad doesn't think I need to have a boyfriend or something. He scared John Avery off last month."

Luann rolled her eyes putting a hand on one of her skinny hips, her red nails reminded me of claws. "I'm not shocked. Next time just meet the kid somewhere else."

"Hey don't be giving my little sister any ideas." Jax swaggered over puffing on a cigarette. "I don't want to kill someone just yet."

"See what I mean? No luck." I told Luann with a laugh. "Too protective." I looked around trying to see where Jess had gone off to. I didn't see her anywhere. "Excuse me, I gotta find my friend."

I checked my room and bathroom real quick, frowning a little to myself. What the hell? I walked past the sunroom and backtracked a few steps hearing her laugh. "There you are!" I said opening the glass door and stepping inside the room. It had wall to wall plants, some hanging from the ceiling, and some wicker furniture.

"Oh hey…." Jessica flashed me a bright grin flipping her blonde locks over her shoulder. "We were just talking." She nodded to the person she'd been talking to.

I realized then she wasn't alone. Juice was in the sunroom with her smoking again, standing in the far corner. He had a the grin on that reminded me of a hyper puppy. "I see that." I said in a flat tone giving him a dirty look. "Come on." I told her starting to leave.

"Wait… I kinda wanted to talk to you." Juice spoke up his brown eyes searching my face. "I saw her and thought you'd be in here too."

Jessica winked at me taking a few steps over, closer to the door. "I'll go make myself busy." She suggested taking off before I could stop her.

I bit my lip watching her slide out the glass door stealthily. _Bitch_ I thought to myself. "So you decided you can speak to me huh?"

Juice sighed coming closer to me, his aftershave smell hitting my nose. "I didn't mean to be such an ass the other day." he told me apologetically.

"You were." I picked at invisible lint on my pale yellow shirt, wishing the feeling in the bottom of my stomach would go away. I was half ass scared we'd get caught alone, half nervous because being alone with Juice left so many opportunities that I doubted would happen.

Juice threw his cigarette butt down and squashed it with the toe of his boot before he grabbed my hand tightly in his own. "I'm sorry ok? I just… freaked. Your dad will literally like…. Cut my nuts off if he thought there was even a chance we had anything going on."

I looked down at our joined hands, his looking so dark and rough against my manicured one. "So what makes you think I won't chop your nuts off for hurting my feelings?" I asked boldly.

He took my other hand, holding both of them of them. "Maybe I realized how stupid I was being for being scared." I could feel the rough callouses from working.

"What do you want Juice?" I asked him in a softer voice.

I could hear the laughter and talking getting closer, telling me that everyone was going into the dining room. "We better get out of here." I told him trying to pull my hands away from his. "They'll come looking soon."

Juice nodded tightening his grip on me knowing it was true. I had no idea how he'd managed to stay hidden this long. "C'mere." he whispered pulling me into his leather clad chest. "Can you keep a secret?"

Our lips met a split second after. He tasted like beer, cigarettes, and a hint of mint. I kissed him back hungrily, loving every second of this kiss. I knew we were taking a huge chance making out at my house. Juice's hands let go of mine and went to my hair entangling his fingers in it. I slid my hands onto his leather clad back knowing we couldn't take this much further. Juice's kisses were a whole different category than the ones I'd experienced before.

"Lee-Lew! Juice! Stop it!" Jessica's hushed voice came from the doorway. "Pops is looking for Juice!"

We jumped apart instantly breathless and wanting more of each other. "You better go." I whispered to him. "We'll talk more tomorrow if we can."

"Leave your phone in here." He spoke quietly. "I'll put my number in it." He gave me a small smile before he crept out of the sunroom.

I knew my hair was sticking up everywhere, I smoothed it down waiting exactly 5 minutes before I left the sunroom bumping into Wendy stumbling around. "You ok?" I asked her grabbing her arm. "Lets go eat."

She nodded her head in gratitude letting me guide her to the dining room where Jax helped her into a chair giving me a grin of thanks. "Everyone here?" Dad asked looking around. "Let's eat."

Dinner didn't last long. The food flew off peoples plates as we all talked and laughed together. I sat on one end of the huge table and Juice was at the end of the other jumping up and down when the guys told him they needed something. "I hear my pretty little niece is the new secretary." Chibs said leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah. Its about time she earns her keep." Tig told him giving me a grin. "Can't sponge off daddy but another year."

"Are you kidding me? When I was 17 I was already out of school-" Jax started.

I cut him off rolling my eyes at him. He always had the same sad sob story. "And earning your own way, had a Dyna, had a place of your own at 18, and still came over to help Mom out with me."

Everyone laughed knowing they'd heard this a million times too. "Poor Jacky boy, had such a rough and tough life." Chibs chimed in a glint in his eyes. "This one here's our only hope at something decent."

Gahhh… Here we all went again. "Maybe I'll start a female charter, learn how to ride."

"Like hell you will." Dad said from his end of the table taking a swig of his Budweiser. "My little girl isn't going anywhere near a bike unless its on the back of mine or her brothers."

A sudden thump out of nowhere made us all jump. "What in the hell?" Bobby said looking beside him at Wendy. She had fallen asleep coming down from her few day high apparently and had hit the table hard.

Jax sighed standing up. "Guess its time for us to go." I knew he was embarrassed even if he'd never admit to any of the guys that were here. "Mom, I'm going to borrow your cage to get her home. I'll bring it back in the morning."

Mom nodded a smirk on her face watching him scoop Wendy up in his arms. It wasn't too long after that that everyone else started saying bye heading home. Juice hung around helping carry the card table back in the sunroom, taking the trash out for Mom, and talking to Dad for a few minutes alone before saying he had to head out too.

It wasn't until an hour later that I had the chance to go grab my phone from the wicker chair I'd left it in and see if he'd actually put his number in it. I scrolled through my contacts looking for Juice in it and stopped seeing the initals "J.C". I already had two unread messages and since Jess was in the shower I was pretty sure I knew who they were from. I slid the phone in my pocket, heading back down the hall to my room pausing to say goodnight to Dad before going inside. I climbed on top of the bed and hit read.

_J.C: Its me. _

_J.C: What are you doing?_

I felt a flutter in my stomach as I text him back. _Laying in my bed what about you. _ I heard the shower stop and hit the lock button just when Jessica came into the room wrapped up in a towel and one on her head. "Sooooo…. Did he leave his number?" she asked bending down to dig through her gigantic overnight bag. I had no idea why she just didn't leave her things here since she only went home on Saturdays anyway.

"Yeah." I smiled holding up the purple covered phone. "I don't know if this is such a great idea though." I really didn't I didn't want either of us to get in trouble over this. He had more to lose than I did.

Jess slid her pajamas on not ashamed in the least to drop her towel and get dressed in front of me whereas I usually went to the bathroom to change. "I think it's a good idea. He's really hot, and he seems to be a nice guy. He's nothing like Tig or them."

She had a good point there. He was nowhere near as hardcore as they were. I didn't know him very well but I could already tell that much about him. "I don't know. He's way older." I pointed out. "Like… illegal type of old."

"Your phones lighting up." she told me crawling on top of the bright blue bedspread with me her wet blonde hair sticking up everywhere. "Is it him?"

I nodded picking the phone back up and opening the message from him.

_J.C: Same only I wish it were your bed too._

Jess leaned over reading the conversation. "What's the JC stand for?" she asked hitting the reply button for me. "Tell him to come get in it then."

I snatched the phone back from her laughing. "I have no idea what it stands for." I didn't even comment on the last thing she said.

We stayed up until early in the morning texting back and forth learning different things about each other. We asked each other a million questions, I found out that the J.C stood for Juan Carlos, he was from Queens, played a lot of COD, and was Puerto Rican. He found out I was an avid reader, never smoked or did any drugs, and wanted to be a nurse. We'd ended with him saying we should talk more face to face tomorrow about some other stuff.

By the time 8am rolled around I felt like a zombie when I made it to the garage. Jax had gave me a ride on his Dyna when he brought Mom's car back this morning. Now my hair was matted where it stuck out from the helmet. "Thanks Bro." I told him climbing off tripping a little.

"Anytime. Have fun." He told me backing the bike in the row. "We'll be at the clubhouse if you need us. Lowell and Juice are already over there."

As much as I normally liked Lowell, I was pretty disappointed he'd be there today. That meant no talking to Juice. I could usually put Lowell up to keeping his mouth closed if I wanted him to but I knew not to even try it for this. I walked off to the office setting my purse down behind the desk before I turned on the computer and printer. The radio was already blasting in the garage while they were out there piddling around. Sounded like someone had a thing for Jane's Addiction.

I peeked out the open door trying to see if I could spot him. "Whatcha looking for?" I heard Juice's voice boom out behind me. I whirled around to face him standing him in the other doorway dressed in jeans and a dark black t shirt that clung to his body tightly He was the only one of them that dressed in tighter clothing.

"Just checking to make sure those lazy ass mechanics are working, not bumming around out there." I replied matter of factly. "Gotta report back to Dad."

Juice smirked pouring himself a paper cup of coffee and plopping down on the worn out green plaid sofa. "Tell him the mechanics need a raise while you're at it."

I made a face as he took a sip of the straight black coffee. It had to taste awful. "That's disgusting."

He shrugged a shoulder sipping on it again. "Gotta wake myself up somehow. Some girl was blowin up my phone last night. All through the morning."

"Ye mean ye actually found a real live girl that actually wants to talk to ye?" Chibs laughed coming inside the office for usual morning cup of Joe. "I didn't think anyone around Charming was that desperate."

"Sure there is. Juice might be to pay a woman for her company." Tig cracked coming in too. "He can't help but brag about it when it happens. He has nowhere near the charisma that I do when it comes to pussy."

Chibs leaned on the edge of the desk. "I would hope the boy had better standards than you anyways." He laughed. "And watch ye mouth around the lass" he reminded him.

Juice pushed himself back off the sofa crumpling his coffee cup in his hand. "As much fun as sitting here being cut down is, I have work to do." He started to go back out when Tig blocked the door giving him a look to mess with him before he let him pass through.

"How's your day sweetie?" Tig asked me taking Juice's place on the sofa showing me they weren't planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

I made small talk with the two of them for about an hour, talking about school, Kerrianne, Dawn, and Fawn. I hadn't saw any of them since we were kids. We chatted until the oil delivery pulled into the lot with Bobby behind the wheel and my Dad in the passenger seat. "We're going to close the doors for a while ok darkling?" Tig told me. "If you need something knock on it."

I nodded wondering what in the world was so secretive about economy sized oil drums but didn't question it. There were just some things you didn't ask around here. I started in on the stack of invoices that had piled up from the week that Mom hadn't had a chance to put in the computer yet.

The rumble of bikes starting up a second before the office door opened about an hour after they'd closed me in. "Top secret oil in there huh?" I asked Juice when he leaned down to put the door stopper down for me. "Did everyone leave?"

"Yeah except for me and Lowell. Why you want me to leave too?" Juice asked me his brown eyes had a glint in them. He lit a cigarette up taking long drags off of it, looking me up and down not even trying to hide it.

I nervously pushed my hair back, pretending I didn't notice. "I guess you can stick around. So last night you said we should talk today about some stuff in person?"

Juice nodded tossing the butt outside before shutting both of the doors. "So….. Ummm… you know that you can't like.. Tell anyone about this." He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

Looking over at him I noticed the big grease marks running down his muscled arms, smeared into the tattoos that ran down his forearms. "I know that." I spoke softly. "I don't like it but I know it." I knew already he'd be thrown out before he could finish prospecting and get his patch.

"Like anyone. Not even your friend." he said quietly with a serious expression. "I could get thrown in jail over this. I mean I've been a few times before but I'd really like to not go back if possible."

I'd figured Juice had went to jail before. For what, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. He didn't offer details either. " Are you trying to tell me you've never messed around with someone underage?" I almost smirked at the look on his tan face. "Besides, she could be a good cover for us if we ever wanted to take this outside of the garage." I pointed out. "We're not always going to be alone like this, Lowell could walk in at any second."

"I don't know. I don't know I should even do this. You're young." he admitted glancing out of the dirty window

Juice was right about that. I was young. But I was young and screaming for something more than what the high school boys had to offer. "We'll figure it out." I assured him trying to sound more confident about it than I felt. "You can't keep changing your mind on me." I added trying to keep an even tone. I didn't like being played with.

He messed the Velcro on the blacks gloves on his hands avoiding looking at me . A few minutes passed before he spoke up. "I didn't change my mind. I just said we had to be careful is all." His phone rang then stopping me from replying. He walked off over to the picnic tables talking to whoever was on the other end for a few minutes.

I pretended to be busy not wanting to seem desperate while he talked occasionally walking around in a little circle. "Sorry bout that." He said striding back over "I gotta go do some stuff at the clubhouse but I'll see you before you go home ok?"

I nodded feeling a little disappointed he wouldn't be hanging out over at the garage side all day. "Sure." I picked through the few loose papers left lying on the desk. He didn't make it back before I had to leave though and I couldn't think of any excuse to go over to the clubhouse.

I didn't see him on Sunday either. We'd sent a few texts here and there but he seemed like he was busy every time I sent him anything. I knew the club was busy doing something, Dad had hardly been home the past few nights, coming in after we were already asleep. Monday I had babysat for Donna Winston while she worked. She was married to Jax's best friend, and Piney's son so we all helped whenever she would let us. She usually accepted my help with babysitting without a big hassle and I really didn't mind. Her kids were sweet, especially since they were still so little. It was sad that they'd be big by the time Opie got back out of jail.

Jess was back over at the house, we were still sharing my room since Lowell was in the guest room for another night. He wasn't bad to have around, he usually kept to himself in his room only coming out for meals or to ask me where stuff was around the house. Mom made the comment she was the only Old Lady she knew that had 3 teenagers in her house and didn't feel the urge to drink yet and could go to bed peacefully without worrying what her house looked like when she woke up. Lowell barely counted as a teenager at 19 going on 20 too.

We were laying in bed watching bad reality shows laughing when my phone lit up. "Uh-oh, did Prince Charming decide to speak?" Jess teased leaning over to see what the message read.

_J.C: feel like we've hardly talked. _

I chewed on the inside of my lips trying to decide what to say back. You've been busy I sent. "Geez.. That was fast." I commented when he replied seconds later.

_J.C: Yeah I have. Clay's been running the shit out of me. What are you up to tonight?_

Hmmm… telling him I was in bed because I had school in 10 hrs just didn't seem the mature response. Not much just watchin tv with Jess I typed back. Just as fast as I sent it he sent another message back.

_J.C: Why don't you come over?_

We both jumped up on our knees squealing at the same time. "Oh my God… you have to go!" Jess said her eyes lit up. "Tell him yes!"

I shook my head, grinning in spite of it. "I can't go! What am I going to tell my parents? Hey just thought I'd let you know I'm going to see my biker lover you don't know about?"

She giggled and bopped me in the head with a pillow. "No of course not. You don't say anything. You just go… out the window or something."

_I could _I thought to myself. Mom and Dad were pretty well occupied I was sure. And they usually didn't come check on us once we had our pajamas on and were in the room for the night. Lowell was next door but he'd never know either if we shut our side of the bathroom and locked it in case he came for something. I'd never sneaked out before, but I'd never had a reason to either.

"Shit.. He text again." I looked down at the phone on the bed and hit the read button.

_J.C: If you don't wanna its ok. Just thought you'd want 2 c me_

I could feel my heart thumping in my chestexcitedly as I text him back before I could chicken out. Where do you live? I replied hitting send before I could erase it or change it. "Oh my god…. I'm actually going to do this." I whispered to Jessica not believing it.

Jessica squeezed my hand. "I'll cover for you. I'll tell Lowell to shut his side of the bathroom so I can tell Mom you're in there if I need to."

Nodding I got up and started hunting for something to put on besides my pajamas while I waited for a text back from him. "He says he lives at 4211 Hillside. That's not far from here." Jess read checking the phone for me. "I told him Okay I'll be over in a few."

I changed into a purple velour tracksuit, settling for comfy since I had to walk over there, with a white beater under the jacket. "Okay…. I'm actually doing this." I said for the second time. "Damn…" I pulled my dark hair into a simple ponytail. "I think I'm ready."

Jess turned the TV up a couple clicks before walking to the window with me. "Be back by at least 6am." She told me as I pushed the window up making a dull creak.

I looked down at the hedge beneath the window knowing this was my last chance to back out. "Okay." I told her with a smile climbing out. "Text me if anything happens."

She nodded staying at the window watching me as I crept through the yard knowing my Dad glanced out a lot if he was awake. He was pretty paranoid about his "associates" as he called them finding out where he lived and dropping by. I sent Juice a text telling him I was on my way, hurrying as fast as I could to walk the 4 blocks it took to get to his house. Why he didn't live in SAMCRO corner I had no clue. I had my hood pulled around my face, keeping it down just in case. It was 11 at night so I doubted anyone would see me but I didn't want to get busted on my first night sneaking out. I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

Juice's house came into my sight as soon as I turned the corner. It wasn't a bad looking house at all. It wasn't what I expected either. I'd pictured something way smaller and not as….nice for some reason. This house was small but not tiny, dark bricked with a cut lawn and a red roof. His bike was parked in the driveway telling me he didn't have a car. I walked up the driveway quickly and knocked on the door feeling embarrassed when I noticed the doorbell.

"Come in!" Juice's deep voice shouted from inside the house.

I pushed the door open letting myself in walking slowly taking it all in. It was a mess to say the least. He had brown suede couches with nice marble and cherry coffee tables but that's where the nice ended. Clothes were piled up on one of the couches, dishes were on the coffee tables, and it smelled like he was burning something in the kitchen that connected to the living room.

"Hey." I tilted my head smiling shyly at him staying where I was at.

He leaned down looking at me underneath the cabinets that were in the kitchen, the backs facing the living room. "Hey." He repeated giving me what I automatically dubbed as his sexy grin, with his tongue pressed against his teeth showing them all off. "Took you long enough."

I shrugged still not moving, looking around some more. "I had to walk you know. I'm not Spider-

man." I noticed the comic books sitting on the table and almost rolled my eyes. It was so Juice.

"You can come move from that spot you know, I swear there's nothing in here that's going to bite you." His voice carrying from the kitchen over the running water he'd turned on.

Tentatively I stepped through the mess, the floor not being too bad with clutter, and made it into the small kitchen area. It was better than the living, he was loading the dishwasher which was probably why. "Sorry I was trying to pick up before you made it over." Juice apologized wiping his wet hands off on his black jeans. "I haven't been home in a few days. Come on, you can sit down. I don't have cooties on my couch ya know." He smirked leading me to the messy living room.

"I'm pretty sure there's something growing on those dishes so I'm going to have to argue with you on that one." I sat down on the edge of the larger couch not covered in his clothes trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt.

Juice lit a cigarette before he sat down beside me leaned back smoking, watching me. "So how'd you get out of prison?" He asked with a grin. "I know you didn't say 'Hey Dad I'm going over to Juice's place I didn't think you'd mind'." His shirt was riding up on one side, showing me a tiny bit of the body it was hiding.

I shrugged trying to look nonchalant about it as I started to pull my dark purple jacket off revealing the beater underneath it. "I didn't say anything to anyone but Jess. Lowell might know I left I don't know." I knew Lowell didn't usually ask for details if we tried to get him to do something. As long as it wouldn't get him in any direct trouble with my Dad he was a pretty laid back accomplice.

"I figured you were going to sneak out or lie." Juice admitted leaning towards me "C'mere." He suggested pulling me back with him.

I let him, leaning against him breathing in his smell. It was always the same, leather, aftershave, and cigarettes. The beer was missing tonight. Juice just held me for a minute, his hands rubbing up and down my sides before he kissed me. He moved his hand from sitting still on my thigh, to rubbing it, and then I moved my fingers slowly touching his cheek blowing softly in his ear. He moved me putting my legs in his lap, slowly removing my shoes. Juice smiled leaning in to kiss my lips softly, then repeated, this time his tongue pressing against my closed lips until I let him in. I leaned back reclining with my head on the arm of the couch, pulling Juice closer to me. I was practically laying on top of him, as our kisses continued. Juice's hands moved up my side, finding my breast, as he cupped it softly.

His breath was warm against my ear when he whispered. "Is it ok if we go to my room? I swear I won't make you do anything you don't want to."

I nodded, not knowing if it really was a good idea. But something in the back of my head told me to trust Juice. "Its fine." I told him kissing his tan cheek.

He took my hand leading me down the short hallway to the room furthest in the back and flipped the light on. It was a decent sized area with a king sized bed in it neatly made with a dark grey comforter and a stack of pillows. Juice led me to sit on the bed flipped light before coming back. I grinned as his lips found me, moving rhythmically, the kiss growing in intensity, as his hand pushed up my shirt and under my bra to grab my breast. His hands were so warm and I gasped as he squeezed lightly, moving his mouth back to my neck. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd never felt before. Being kissed by Juice was just… so different, so sweet, so addictive.

I knew this was where I had to end it though, and after an hour I pushed him away gently. "its ok" Juice murmured. "I don't think that's a good idea either." He'd pulled the elastic band from my hair and was playing with it. "I don't want to go to jail just yet. This is bad enough."

We laid there wrapped up in each others limbs in silence for a while before I spoke. "So what brought you to Charming exactly? Not a big city like New York." He hadn't talked much about himself other than a few basics.

"I dunno. Left Queens with some clothes, a laptop, and my bike and just drove." Juice ran the very tips of his fingers along my stomach lightly. "I stopped here for gas and ended up staying. I ran into Jax a few days later, helped him out, and ended up Prospecting."

I traced the outline of his tattoos in the moonlight liking how close our bodies were, pushed as tight as we could get them and still be fully clothed. "Don't you have family back home?"

"Just my Ma and step dad. I'm an only child." Juice replied tucking his hand into the waist of my pants and leaving it there. "We don't get along so great."

I shifted on the bed laying halfways on my side to see his face. "You sure you don't mind doing this?" I asked softly.

Juice rolled over on top of me grinning the pale light shining off the tribals on his shaved head. "I'm pretty sure."

Kissing his collarbone, I leaned over to see what time the clock on his nightstand said. "Shit. Its 4am." I sighed not wanting to leave possibly the best make out session I'd ever had in my life. The attraction was definitely there between us. I'd done some exploring of my own under his shirt feeling the muscles that were there. "I need to go."

He groaned tightening his hold on my waist. "I don't know if I can hold out until next Saturday."

I smiled hearing that, happy he was feeling it too. "We'll figure it out."

And we did over the next few days. I would wait for everyone to go to bed and slip out, Juice would meet me up the block to walk with me saying it made him feel a little bit better about me having to sneak around. I knew for me it was starting to turn into more than just fooling around, I wasn't sure about him though. He didn't offer any insight on it and I didn't want to ruin it by asking. We did other things too, watch movies, listen to music, and just talk about whatever was on our minds. I had no idea what I was getting into.

**As always, thanks for reading! Like it? Don't like it? Lemme know! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all of the alerts/favorites/ and reviews! I love seeing those pop up in my inbox. I'm amazed at the traffic stats for this story, 900 hits in one day for each time I post isn't bad at all. I'm still not sure I like the way this is being written but I'm going to roll with it, and holy crow…. Season 6! I won't post spoilers but..whoa…. And thanks goes out to Jessica1018 of course for her hours of bouncing ideas around and as always….. Please excuse if I made any major grammar errors, I try to go back and catch all of them on my own.**

**And if Aleah seems young, well she is. A young girl that thinks she knows what she's doing. **

I do not own SOA, Kurt Sutter does. I do own Aleah and Jessica and anything else that you can recognize as original in this story.

Chapter 4

We were in Juice's room making out like crazy. Our hands were everywhere on each other. It'd been 8 long days since we'd been able to sneak away and see each other. I pushed his red shirt up, kissing down his smooth caramel chest when I spotted something I definitely didn't leave there.

"What's wrong?" His Adam's apple bobbing on my cheek when he spoke. "You ok Lee?"

I pulled his shirt down not trusting myself to say anything. I knew we weren't really together, but that came nowhere close to helping the sting I was feeling right now. "Not as great as you must have felt." I said acidly standing up from the grey comforter covered bed straightening out my aqua tank and running shorts.

Juice's tan arms slid around my waist with me trying to push them off. "Look…. We're not…together like that. I can do what I want. I just kinda assume you do the same."

He knew I didn't though. He knew I was under my Dad's thumb for the past month since he'd came in my room and I wasn't in it. Luckily Lowell had covered for me saying that I had ran to meet Jessica at the corner with her phone charger. Besides that, when Juice asked if I was seeing anyone else, I'd truthfully told him no. "Don't be mad…" Juice whispered drawing me in closer against his warm body.

But I was. The idea of him with one of the sweet butts that hung around the clubhouse was maddening. Since I'd started working at the garage I'd met a few of the regular ones, the crow eaters too, and I didn't like any of them. They were whores, ready to grab onto any member they could. Juice was close to patching in so they'd all been making a play for him knowing he didn't have an old lady. The club had had a lot of late nights and a ton of runs so I didn't question it when he said he was busy for the past few days, my dad had been gone a lot too coming home a little banged up.

We'd went a little but further each time I'd came back over, agreeing we should wait until I was legal to do more. Every time I came back my stomach did a somersault when he kissed me. "Lee….. Come on.. You can't stay mad at me. I'm your physics guru remember?"

Juice was also great at helping me with homework if I took it to the garage on Saturdays. He'd helped a few times over the month and a half we'd officially been sneaking around. "I don't like it." I mumbled finally speaking to him. "I just thought…. I don't know Juice." I could feel the ache behind my eyes telling me I was going to cry soon. I'd always been the emotional one in the family which wasn't hard considering the people I lived with.

I shoved his arms back off again heading to the bathroom slamming the door then locking it behind me before he could see me tearing up. Jessica was in the living room waiting for me, we'd told Mom we were going for a run. She was actually folding Juice's laundry and vacuuming while we fooled around and he paid her. They didn't have a bad arrangement going.

I leaned over the white ceramic sink squeezing my eyes shut. I shouldn't feel like he cheated I knew because he technically he didn't. "Aleah?" Juice's knocking broke through my thoughts. "Let me in."

"Is she ok?" I heard Jessica's muffled voice ask. "I heard the door slam while I was in the laundry room. You need more Tide by the way."

I smiled in spite of myself hearing Jess the housekeeper at work. She didn't especially love cleaning but she'd do what she could to get herself extra money here and there. "I'm fine. I just had to pee really bad is all." I lied not wanting her to beat Juice with his empty Tide bottle. "I'll be out in a second."

The footsteps led away from the door, then the vacuum kicked back on a moment later. I opened up the white medicine cabinet digging around until I found some q-tips and rubbed the mascara that had puddled beneath my dark eyes. "Perfect. Raccoon face." I mumbled shoving the box of q-tips back in feeling a jolt in my stomach when I saw the gold foil wrapped Trojans. This day just kept getting better.

When I opened the door to go back to Juice's room Jess poked her head down the hallway mouthing _is everything ok? _I moved my hand in a motion telling her so-so. Juice was sitting at his computer desk when I came back in the room, shutting the door behind me. "I'm mad." I told him bluntly. "And feeling very jealous." And hurt. But I wasn't going to tell him that part if he couldn't figure it out on his own. "I thought you knew I didn't…" I trailed off not wanting to embarrass myself any further.

"Come here babe." he told me spreading his muscled arms. The last thing I really wanted to do was be comforted by him. But I went to him sitting in his lap like a hurt child. "Don't be mad at me ok?" Juice kissed the top of my head running his fingers through my hair. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. You're the only friend I got. A crow eater doesn't mean jack to me."

Friend. Ugh…. "Its 'kay." I whispered laying my head on his chest shutting my eyes. "I should probably go though. We were supposed to just run and come back." I could smell the cologne he must have put on right before I got there. Polo maybe.

His dark eyes moved to the clock seeing what time it was. "You guys have been here a couple of hours. I gotta get back to the damn clubhouse too. I have some shit to do tonight." He didn't sound happy about it whatever it was.

Now that I knew what type of stuff he was doing around there, I felt paranoid hearing him say he was going back. "Maybe I can come back tomorrow. I'm going out with some friends Saturday after work."

"I don't know. I have to take care of Piney's grouchy ass when he gets home from the hospital." he sighed not elaborating on it. "Being the only Prospect sucks sometimes."

I kissed him on his jawbone leaving a little trail of kisses to his mouth. His soft lips pushed on mine instantly showing me we were okay. I moaned feeling his mouth move down to my neck biting then sucking. I ran my hands over his Mohawk losing myself in our little make out session as he picked me up moving us back to his bed. Juice was very good at kissing. And he knew it.

"Carlos?" I whispered to him hating to stop. "Don't…. find some other girl to be friends with ok?" I'd started calling him Carlos when we were alone, it felt more… intimate than calling him Juice, he'd agreed on the condition I didn't say it in front of anyone else that he'd lose man points with. "I thought that we had something going here." I knew exactly how I felt about him. It was way more than a friend. I had it bad for him.

Juice chuckled at me, a deeper sound than normal. "Don't worry about it." he took my hands in his larger, rougher ones. "I won't do anything that's going to piss you off again. Swear it." He kissed me on the tip of the nose making me giggle. "I'm getting pretty attached to you too Lee."

A few days later Jessica and I were walking down the street after we ran to catch the ice cream truck like two little kids. I licked my fudge pop listening to her talk. The girl loved gossip. "So what about you and Juice?" Jessica asked biting into her ice cream sandwich.

I scuffed the sidewalk with the side of my white gladiators shrugging. "I don't know Jess. I like him you know? But I don't think its… serious to him."

"I think it is. I do clean his house you know, and I've yet to find anything belonging to any females in there." She pointed out trying to salvage her fast melting ice cream. "Shit. It fell on my shirt."

I glanced sideways at her lifting her black beater up licking the spot it'd fallen on. "Jess! Put your shirt down!" I snapped hoping nobody had seen her.

"Its just my stomach. I'm sure people have saw stomachs before." Jess mumbled pulling it back down. "Anyways, are you guys doing it yet? He looks like he'd be a lot of fun."

The blush rose to my cheeks hearing her talk about Juice like that. He DID look like he'd be fun in bed. "No we are not doing it yet." I replied trying to use a tone that told her the subject was off limits. "We're just…. Messing around." Okay so a lot of messing around that sometimes led to one of our hands down the other pants or someone not wearing them at all.

"Why not? Its not like you're a virgin. I'm pretty sure he's not either. If he is, I'll be shocked."

We slowed down some, only two blocks away from my house, trying to drag the long walk out as long as we could. "Juice isn't a virgin." I laughed at the thought. "I think he's done things that'll make us both blush." I waved when Chief Unser drove by beeping the horn at us. "We just kinda thought we'd wait until it was legal. He's still sleeping with someone though. I found those hickeys remember?"

Jessica nodded licking her finger tips slowly, one by one before she spoke. "Doesn't that bug you? Like… I thought he was yours. You don't go out with anyone else. And I know you've been asked out a few times."

Very true. There was a few guys that asked me out every weekend. I just didn't feel like going with them when I knew where I wanted to be wasn't there. "Yeah it bugs me. I told him so the other day so maybe he stopped. All those guys are whores like that though."

"Like all the SAMCRO guys? Really?" She asked curiously. "Even Pops and Jax?"

I nodded knowing it was true. I'd heard Mom pitching a screaming fit more than once over it. "Yep. Every time they go out of town. Its some dumb rule they have with their women. What happens on the road stays there."

She made a face shaking her head. "Hell no. I couldn't do that. That's like permission to cheat or something. Its so cool though that you know them."

"Its okay. Sometimes its kinda rough." I told her remembering how Opie went to jail, it'd hurt a lot of us, my dad being shot in the leg, Jax getting jumped a few times. "There's a lot I don't know, but they're okay."

Jess paused at the trash can on the corner throwing her wrapper away. "You really think Clay would be pissed with Juice?"

"Do we breathe air?"

We both giggled leaning on each other, matching our steps. "You really want it to work with him don't you?"

I bit my bottom lip pausing before I nodded. "I just don't know… I don't know what he thinks about it. He called me his 'friend' the other day. He's only text a few times since." I'd heard around the clubhouse that Juice was with Piney, helping him around but still. It felt like forever since we'd seen each other.

"Maybe he's nervous about getting in trouble." Jess pointed out. "I give you two more times of seeing him before you crack on the sex thing too. You should fix me up with someone."

"Jess, ewww. No . They're all like…. Uncles or something." I protested disgusted at the idea of her going out with Tig or even Chibs. "No.. just no."

She was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath to keep talking. "I'm joking! C'mon have a sense of humor!" She took a few deep breath still giggling some. "Are you going to Elijah's Halloween party?"

"Hellz yes I'm going, its going to be the party of the year." Every year Elijah Tate threw a huge Halloween party, no parents, plenty of booze, and everyone in costumes. "Ugh. Mom's calling. We gotta go." Ever since we'd disappeared on our pretend run every time I left the house I was hounded with a million calls, texts, and questions. Work this week was going to be a sanctuary.

Saturday morning I went to work in a pretty good mood. There was a chance I'd get to see Juice again, things were pretty relaxed the past few days. Dad had even been home at decent times, and I'd heard Piney was out of the hospital from his stroke. Between school and Halloween coming up I hadn't had a chance to even drop by and visit him. Piney had been close to us kids when we were growing up.

"Teller-Morrow Garage" I answered the ringing phone. It seemed like everyone was calling the shop today. "This is Aleah, how can I help you?" I drummed my pink painted nails on the desk impatiently. I was starving and ready to run to the clubhouse for the some of the barbecue I'd been smelling Tig grill all morning. There were tons of crow eaters, bikers, and family around for a get together to celebrate Piney's coming home. He'd been home over a week already but was just now feeling up to be transported over to the clubhouse in the ugly black van.

"Hey sexy." A deep voice purred into my ear. "I was calling about a tune up. Maybe a lube job."

I laughed realizing who it was. "I almost hung up on you you dork." I leaned back in the chair not able to keep the smile off of my face while I was talking to him. "Why'd you call the garage?"

Juice yawned into the phone, I could hear the radio in the background. "I dunno. I thought it was safer than calling your cell."

"I thought you'd be here by now. Your patients been here for a hour." I told him looking out of the open door at everyone hanging out, the music full blast playing Van Halen.

"I'm coming. I'm on my way. You think you can meet me in the weight room at the clubhouse in ten minutes?" he asked in a silky sounding voice obviously trying to romance me into it. "Just be real discreet."

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me. "I probably could do that." I knew I'd be in there as soon as we hung up. This no alone time or getting to talk in public was starting to drive me crazy.

"Okay. I'm pulling in. I'm in Jax's Dodge."

Still smiling like crazy I grabbed my purse and headed for the clubhouse knowing it was pointless to try and slip in without talking to anyone. "I don't think that's on the doctors orders." I pointed a finger at Piney's ribs with a side of coleslaw.

"I do what they tell me to, I end up in a damn hospital bed. I do what I damn well please and I'm fine." Piney mumbled out leaning down to give me a kiss on the cheek.

I hugged him tightly. "Take care of yourself Old Man." I whispered to him patting his back before I let him go. I knew he didn't have but a few years left with us, he was going downhill fast.

"Where's Uncle Tig's hug at? You never play cards with me like you used to." Tig cut in, he had a crow eater on each arm. One was a hard looking blonde, the other a curly headed Spanish woman.

I laughed accepting the Coke Bobby was holding out to me. "I think you're getting enough hugs at the moment."

"Aleah, grab some more napkins from inside if you don't mind." Mom called over from stirring things that were on the tables outside. They'd moved them over closer to the clubhouse instead of the garage since it was easier with the kitchen being in there.

"Sure Mom." Perfect excuse to go inside. I pushed through the crowd saying hi occasionally, looking around for Juice. I frowned not seeing him anywhere, according to my mental clock we had about three minutes until meet time. The doors to the clubhouse were propped open with chairs, I slipped in past Chibs giving him a small smile "Hi Chibs."

I took a quick look around making sure it was clear before I slinked off down the long hallway to the weight room. The sneaking around was fun for the first while, but this was getting pretty ridiculous. I shut the door quietly behind me leaving it unlocked for Juice to slip in. I grimaced at the dirty mirror trying to peer in it to check my make up while I was in here. I had on a denim skirt with a chevron print top paired with flip flops, cute and comfy.

I saw the door open up and turned around with a grin on my face. "Hey you." I spoke softly.

Juice grinned back his white teeth gleaming in the light coming to wrap his arms around my waist. "Miss me?" he teased kissing me gently. "Its been a few days."

I leaned in close to him laying my head on his cut breathing in deep. "Maybe just a little bit."

He toyed with my hair, kissing the top of my head then my forehead sweetly. "Good. I had shitty service over at Piney's so I could only text those few times I ran out to get stuff. God he was terrible. All he did was cuss and yell at me."

I had no doubt Piney was a terrible person to try to help. I'd seen him in action a few times. "Do you have to go back?" I lifted my head back wanting him to kiss me.

Juice leaned down moving his hands to my cheeks finally kissing me. I sighed into it loving the way his soft lips felt on mine. "Mmmm…. Just for a couple more days. I had to borrow Jax's truck to take some stuff over there."

My mood turned sour almost instantly. "Can't you…. Do something about being there all the time? We hardly see each other." I complained feeling like a bratty two year old. "And when we do its in weight rooms or the middle of the night."

"No I can't. I have to do whatever Clay tells me to. He says go baby-sit, I go baby-sit. He says I'm working at the shop I work at the shop. I signed on for that Lee." Juice pulled away looking irritated. He scratched his Mohawk, one thing he always did when he was nervous, upset, or apparently angry. "You think I like doing this? Hiding what we're doing like two kids?"

I knew he was right. SAMCRO owned him for the rest of his life. I'd saw how hard they could be on the prospects even when it was Jax. But that didn't change the irritability I felt right now. Jess had been on 4 dates the past couple of weeks, all I'd done was sneak over to Juice's over a week ago. "I don't know. I'm just…. Sick of it."

Juice sighed in exasperation throwing his hands up before crossing his arms over his grey t shirt covered chest. "I can't do anything about it. You know that. You knew before we decided to even-"

The door opened suddenly making both of us jump. "What are the two of ye doing in here together?" Chibs asked coming in, shutting the door behind him. "And did ya think no one would notice?"

"I have to go." I grabbed my purse off of the small shelf they kept towels and things on. "Juice was just… helping me…..." My hands were shaking like two leaves when I tried to walk past Chibs of the room. Juice was leaning against the wall with a look that had guilty written all over it.

Chibs grabbed my arm stopping me from leaving. "You two end this. Now. Before someone gets in a shit storm." He gave me a stern look then Juice. "I already told ye to keep yer distance, you didn't listen to me."

Juice nodded pressing lips together hard, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his cut. "Yeah you did tell me." He told him quietly not looking at me. "Can we go now?"

Chibs let go of me sending me out first. My heart was pounding in my chest so hard it hurt. I didn't know if Chibs would tell or not. Bobby or Tig would in a heart beat but with Chibs being kinda close with Juice I had no idea. I went back out to the barbecue to look for someone to give me a ride home, bike or cage, I was ready to go.

**Like it? Hate it? Does my writing just completely suck? Let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Once again, thanks for all of the reviews and alerts! I'm liking this story more and more as I write it, it started out slow but it gets to the good stuff I swear so please stick with it :D And super huge thanks goes out to Jessica1018 for many late nights and early mornings of SOA talk and random pic inspiration of Theo Rossi's amazing body. **

**I'm going to start using song titles as chapters titles, this one comes from Bush 'Come back down' It kinda suited them in this chapter. **

**Warning….. Underage situations ahead and rough language. **

Chapter 5 Come back Down

I was exhausted. Straight out dog ass tired. I couldn't remember the last time I'd even went to sleep at this point. The MC had been running me to the ground for the past three weeks with all of the heat we were getting from the Mayans.

We were starting to have a shit storm with the Mayans, meaning we were getting shot at, jumped, and screwed over in any way you could imagine. They mostly wanted me to stay at the garage, keep an eye on the wives and kids, but every now and then I went with them on a run. Which was usually when they decided they were too fat or old to do something if Jax couldn't make it. My latest bitch job was helping Piney around until he could get up and down on his own.

"Juicy Boy, ye lookin a wee bit peaked." Chibs observed looking at me from the end of the bar where he was nursing a drink.

Shrugging, I started grabbing the empty bottles off of the bar tossing them into the trash can. "I'm fine." I told him trying to keep myself busy. Stay busy or pass out had became my motto. My last break from the club was when we had Piney's welcome home barbecue party over a week ago. "Just keeping busy."

"Make sure you're back at Piney's before late." Clay ordered puffing on his cigar. "Then back here at 9 for the shop. If its not busy start assembling those AK's at the warehouse."

"Got it." I nodded grabbing the worn out broom starting on the filthy ass floor. Cleaning up after these guys was a fulltime job. The guns were cool as hell to play with after I put them together though so that helped make up for it. "So, you guys don't need me tonight?"

Bobby shrugged his massive shoulders. "Not unless you're planning on giving us sponge baths too while you're playing nurse." He joked getting a few laughs out of the guys.

"Don't count on it man." I replied shaking my head at them. "Piney's the grouchiest old man I've ever met."

Jax laughed knowing exactly what I was talking about. "Yeah guess he is getting to be a dick in his old age."

"Maybe I can arrange you a couple days away up at the cabin if you don't screw up anything between now and Friday night." Clay cut in. "You've been doin a half ass decent job around here."

Chibs snorted loudly into his glass. I knew exactly what he was thinking about. Aleah. He hadn't said anything to anyone about catching us a couple of days ago on the condition I told him it was over. I didn't really have any intentions of ending anything with Aleah though. I'd gotten kinda attached to her. She was fun to be around, she didn't rag me when she came over and I was watching the adult swim or x-files.

"Seriously? That'd be… awesome man." I grinned thinking of the things I could do with a couple nights away from being SAMCRO's official slave. "Guess I better get going." I glanced at the clock wondering if I'd have enough time to swing by my place. "See ya in the morning."

I headed out hopping on my bike deciding not to stop off at the house, I'd pass out before I got to Piney's. I slowed some when I passed by Clay's a grin on my face the entire time it was in sight. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my time off if I could swing it…

I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe Juice had text me, inviting me to stay with him for an entire weekend. The last time I saw him I'd been complaining that we never saw each other, now this. It was perfect. I already knew I'd find a way to go if I had to beg my way out of the house.

"What's got you so happy lately?" Mom asked eyeing me suspiciously from the stove.

I shrugged a grin still plastered on my face. I hadn't been able to keep it off for the past hour. "Can't I just be happy?" I scraped my fork along my plate scooping up what was left of the lasagna she'd made.

"Mmmhmmm." She gave me another look before turning back to putting the leftovers away. "You and Jess have been MIA a lot the past month."

Pushing the heavy mahogany chair in as I stood up to take my plate to the dishwasher I tried to avoid looking at her in the eyes. "Just been busy with school stuff. Senior year you know." I dropped the plate in carefully. "I might go over to her place this weekend actually."

It'd be the perfect cover story. Jessica's parents didn't like mine, so they never talked beyond saying a brief hi when they met to exchange Jess back and forth. Every now and then Mom would drop by there if she had a cleaning job for Jess's mom to do from any of the MC. But there would be no way they'd talk to see if I was actually there or not. It was better than my other cover story of staying with Jax and Wendy and begging the junky to cover for me.

Mom turned, leaning with her back on the counter. "Uh huh. You never go to Jess's house." she commented giving me what Jax dubbed her "You're lying" look. "Why now?"

"Her parents want her to stay home a little bit more. She invited me so she wouldn't be lonely since we're always together anyways." I replied trying to sound light and breezy. "I have some homework to finish. Big test on Friday." The lies kept on piling up. I gave her a small smile before taking off down the hall to my room.

I grabbed my messenger bag to start in on the homework I actually did have, working for a couple of hours before I realized I didn't have my phone.

Gemma was sitting down at the table to smoke when she heard the buzzing of a cell phone. She glanced around, spotting Aleah's purple covered I phone. She got up slowly, making sure no one else was around. Clay was laying down, his hands hurting, and Aleah was in her room. Gemma picked it up sliding the unlock button over. 3 unread messages it said.

She hit read without even pausing.

_J.C: Hey babe_

_J.C: Guess ur too busy for me tonight, I'm still at work if you want to talk before I lose service._

_J.C: Can't wait to finally be alone with you for a weekend _

Gemma felt her heart jolt after she read the messages. "That lying little brat." She whispered to herself scrolling through the contacts to scribble the number down. Whoever J.C was, she was going to find out. She didn't appreciate being lied to, and damn sure didn't like that this guy didn't have balls enough to meet her and Clay to see Aleah.

Gemma hit the lock button again and placed the phone back where she'd found it quickly hearing someone coming. The last thing she needed was Clay getting involved.

School dragged by all day Friday. I had my pink backpack packed up for the weekend with Juice. He'd text me throughout the day, telling me he'd already ran out to the cabin once to drop off his own bag and some groceries so we didn't have to risk leaving. Jess had helped me with the cover story, telling Mom and Dad that we were just going to stay close to her place close all weekend.

The reality was that Juice was picking me up at school. No one would think anything of it here since they knew who my dad was. I peeked at my phone checking the time, looking to see if I had any new messages. One from Juice saying he was already in the parking lot waiting. Two more long minutes. I tapped the toe of my light brown boot on the floor impatiently, ready to go. The bell finally rang loudly , I jumped up from my chair snatching my bag up quickly. "Remember, text me or call if anything comes up." I instructed Jess finally being able to speak freely.

Jess gave me the thumbs up, walking to the parking lot with me. "Looks like you're not the only one that's attracted to the more exotic types." She nodded where a few girls were gathered whispering and looking over where the tall, lean, and painfully sexy biker waited for me.

Juice was leaning against the fence, arms crossed wearing a black hoodie, sunglasses, and camo pants. He saw us walking over and waved standing up straight, grabbing the helmet off the handlebar. "'Bout time you got here Lee Lee." He gave me his sexy grin holding a helmet out to me. "Ready?"

"I was born ready" I joked snapping the helmet on. "Don't forget to tell me if anything does down." I reminded her for the millionth time of the day.

Jess waved me off backing up as Juice got on his Dyna, me sliding on behind him. "Have fun!" she called over the roar of the engine when he started it.

I leaned into Juice loving the intimacy of riding with him. Way different experience than riding with Dad or Jax. I was pressed into his back, hands on his thighs. He took the quick way out of town, not wanting to chance being seen by anyone either of us knew. It only took thirty minutes to get to the cabin, especially with the way Juice was driving. I hated for the ride to end, I loved being on a Dyna. I hardly got to go out anymore since Jax started seeing Wendy.

Juice pulled up to the steps on the cabin letting me off first. "How many guys have taken you to a romantic getaway like this?" He opened his arms wide, pretending to show off the cabin with a grin.

"How many girls have you brought on a romantic getaway like this?" I asked rolling my eyes, walking inside the cabin. It definitely hadn't changed since the last time I had been here. It was still sparsely decorated but had a woody home type feel to it. I could see Juice had put a few plastic bags on top of the small counter in the kitchen.

Juice had already unpacked the few things he'd brought with him, so he stretched out across the full size bed watching me pull out the clothes I'd stuffed into my bag. "Come here. You can do that later. Wrinkles never hurt anyone." He held his arms open for me.

I suddenly felt shy as I crawled across the patchwork spread into his arms, realizing we really were completely alone. Juice's fingers moved in a slow circle on my lower back while we laid there, my head on his chest. "Did Chibs say anything else about seeing us?"

He shook his head dipping his hands to rest underneath the back pocket of the jeans I was wearing. "Nope. I don't know how much longer that'll last though. I'm pretty sure it was obvious to him who I was bringing up here with me when the guys were talking."

Hmm. So the guys were asking Juice about his personal life. "What'd you tell them?" I asked sliding my own hand under his thin shirt, he'd stripped the hoodie off when we'd got here, feeling the hard muscles underneath it.

"Told 'em I had a hot date. Not to bug me. Your brother offered to hook me up with some of Wendy's friends." He replied taking his free to play with my hair. It was like we couldn't stop touching each other.

"Remind me to kick his ass when we get back." I muttered leaning up to kiss his jawbone. I shut my eyes when he grabbed a little rougher on my butt, letting him take control of the situation. He rolled over pushing me into the quilt kissing up my neck stopping to suck in the places he already knew would make me gasp.

I slid my hands on each of his hips rubbing up and down his sides while he trailed kisses on my chest just above the top of my shirt, kissing my lips after every few. Now was the point that we usually stopped, but I honestly didn't want to so when Juice started to pull my lavender colored camisole off, I let him. Juice's shirt came off next, me kissing his stomach leaving hickeys from the collarbone to his hips where his camo pants kept me from going any further.

Juice rolled onto his back, lifting the lower half of his body up to slide his pants off. I followed his lead, standing to let mine drop to the floor leaving me in nothing but my pink cheeky panties in front of him. I put my hands in front of my stomach when his eyes washed over me, looking hungrily. "Don't hide." he said softly pulling me back down onto the bed with him.

Our bodies crashed back together in an instant, hands all over. Juice was the best lover I'd ever had. I lost track of how long we were in bed experimenting with each other. Jess had been right, Juice _was_ fun in bed.

We laid there wrapped up in the quilt completely bare after we were done. "Hey…" Juice nuzzled my shoulder with his chin. "You okay? You're not saying much."

I'd been thinking on what had just happened. On what we'd done. More like on what Juice had done. It was nothing, and I mean _nothing _compared to a the few times I'd fooled around with my ex's. Juice _knew _what he was doing, he was gentle, slow, and dominant at the same time. If I'd known sex could feel like that I would've experimented more months ago. Juice had whispered things that I'd normally turn red and clam up over, but instead I'd clung to him.

I smiled rolling around to face him, keeping the blanket tight around me. "I'm perfect." I told him kissing his lips lightly before standing up. "I'll be right back." I drug the quilt with me leaving him with the sheet.

"I think we're kinda past the whole seeing each other naked thing." Juice called after me the mattress squawking when he stood up too. I could hear him rummaging around the room from the bathroom. I shut the door, locking it behind me needing a few minutes. I giggled when I saw my brown hair in knots, sweated out of its curls.

I finished in the bathroom pausing in the doorway when I heard Juice talking to someone. "Hey, what's up?" He answered his phone. I could see him standing at the foot of the bed wearing nothing but a pair of superman boxers. "No. This is Juice." He told whoever it was looking confused. "Yeah no problem."

"Who was that?" I asked coming inside the room, grinning when I saw the condition his body was in up close. Hickeys everywhere, scratches all down his back.

He tossed the phone on the bed . "Gemma. She called and asked who I was, said she was trying to call Luann and dialed me on accident." He shrugged just as my phone started ringing from my purse.

I dug it out having an idea already of who it was. "Hi Mom." I yawned going to sit back on the bed again, my back propped up on the headboard. "No, we're just hanging out watching movies, painting our nails. Girl stuff." Juice walked off out of the room, I saw him pass back by going to the living room. "No, Jess can just get the bag of stuff you got when we come home on Sunday. Yeah I'm sure Mom. Love you too. Tell Daddy I love him." I hung up wondering what in the world had brought that phone call on.

"You smoke?" Juice asked coming back in the room lighting a joint. He puffed on it holding it in offering it out to me.

I looked at it feeling childish suddenly. "I don't know how." I admitted. "I've never tried pot."

Juice smirked a little showing me how to drag on it and hold it in. "That's it. You got it." he coached me. "You learn all kinds of things from older men." He joked taking the joint back for his own hit before offering it back.

I took it taking a drag on it. Juice sank down on the bed laying across the foot of it. "You ever regret asking to Prospect?"

Juice shook his head as soon as I asked the question. "Hell no. I love the club. You ever get sick of being the president's daughter?"

We passed the joint back and forth while we talked, relaxed with each other. "Sometimes. Like now. I get sick of being told stuff is none of my business, or having all the guys watching out for me. Especially now that we're…. whatever." I finished lamely not even sure what to label what we were doing. Together, just friends, just fucking, I had no idea.

"So the violence and shit don't bother you?" he asked putting out the roach of the joint. "Or all the shootings?"

I wasn't sure what he was talking about. There were things I didn't know about happening around the club. "Nah. Dad keeps it all away from me. I don't get involved with club stuff. He never really took me around the clubhouse much once I got old enough to realize things."

Juice reached a hand over grabbing onto mine. "You seem pretty sheltered. No drugs, not much alcohol. Only a few boyfriends."

I knew what he was getting at. "Never had the urge to do any drugs. Or sleep around." I rolled over to him, still in my quilt. "What's your family say about SAMCRO?" So far every time I'd tried to dig into his personal life, I'd gotten vague answers.

"Nothing. I don't talk to them." Juice sighed lifting up the quilt, wrapping himself in it with me. "I told you its just my Ma and step dad back in New York."

I loved hearing his accent come out when he said certain things like now when we were just having a slow conversation. "You don't call home at all?" I couldn't imagine not talking my parents or even Jax.

Juice shook his head kissing me gently. "Nope. Can't have much to do with them. You know how it is. Just like Tig or Chibs not talking to their families much. Its better this way." As if to end the conversation he pulled me on top of him, holding onto my wrists. "I think we have some more getting to know you to do….."

After the second time of "getting to know each other" things relaxed even more with us. We both got up pulling clothes on. I grabbed his shirt pulling it on with my own jeans, he'd already tossed his camo pants back on and headed for the kitchen. "Want a drink?" Juice asked getting two glasses down from one of the cabinets. "I brought beer, vodka, milk, and orange juice."

"Hmmm…. I think I've had enough Juice for a couple of hours." I sat down in one of the chairs. "I'll have whatever you're having."

Juice moved around mixing a few things before handing me a glass. "Bottoms up." He had his own in hand taking a big sip.

I sniffed it trying to see what he'd put in it before I drank it before deciding what the hell? And took a gulp. I almost spit it back out when the taste hit my tongue. "I can run to store if you want. I didn't think about you not drinking." Juice offered trying to hide a grin at my reaction. "I'll go get you a Coke or something."

"Its okay. Sooo… what else do you have planned for this romantic weekend away? You've already seduced me, contributed to a minor…." I trailed off sipping on my drink some more. I'd had light stuff before, wine coolers, maybe some beer but I usually stopped with that.

Juice moved around the kitchen opening the fridge. "Yeah I'm definitely going to jail now. But at least I'll go happy." He turned to face me. "I have to run to the store anyway. You can come if you want… but I don't know." I knew what he meant. We were still close enough to home someone might see us together.

My phone rang from the bedroom loudly, sighing I got up already knowing who it was. "Hold that thought." I told him going to get it. "Hey Mom. Yeah I know its 10 at night. Still just watching movies. No, I don't need a ride home. I'll walk. Thanks. Love you too." I hung up rolling my eyes at her. She was starting to smother again. "Guess she doesn't like being alone. She said Dad went on some kind of run."

"Protection run?" Juice grabbed a shirt from his bag pulling it on. "We do those a few times a week for Unser, couple of other people. You coming with me?"

I nodded deciding if they were all on a run, no one would see us that would matter anyways. I grabbed my bag digging through it for the light sweater I'd packed. "What do you guys protect exactly?" I asked trying to sound relaxed about it. Juice was a bucket of information. "Oh my god…." I felt my cheeks flame up when I saw what Jess must have put in my bag. A box of condoms hidden at the very bottom.

Juice laughed spotting what had embarrassed me. "Nothin wrong with comin prepared." he reached down and grabbed them. "I was actually going to grab some while we were out."

"I have no idea how those got in there." Not finding my sweater I stood up looking around to make sure I hadn't thrown it out when I started unpacking earlier.

"Probably your friend." He chuckled throwing them down on the bed. "She uh…. She doesn't have much at home does she?" He slipped the rings on that he wore away from the garage, hooking his wallet chain into his pants again.

I slid my boots on, slipping his shirt back off to find something that fit better. "Not really." I admitted. "She spends a lot of time at our place, its easier for her. They can't always… ya know take care of her. Thanks for getting her to clean up around your place by the way."

Juice slid a Glock into the waist of his pants, knife in its holder. It was like watching Jax or my dad get dressed. "Its cool. I don't mind helping her out. I know how it is." He glanced at me an unreadable expression on his face. "I was there when I was younger, until I started to hack for cash. All that gave me was jail time."

I understood then why he never wanted to talk about himself. "Money doesn't matter." I said nonchalantly. "Dad's greedy as hell with his, Mom it doesn't really matter to. Or Jax. I guess we've been really lucky with getting by."

"Yeah, its amazing what you can afford off of outlaw activity." He pulled on the shirt I'd taken off back on. "You guys have a lot of nice things."

I slipped my phone and wallet in my pocket waiting for him to put his heavy boots on so we could leave. "I don't know where the money comes from. I just know its there." I told him simply. "I don't ask questions."

Juice stood up finishing getting ready. "Let's go." He grabbed his clear riding glasses for night. "We can go for a ride."

I got on the Harley behind him holding tightly as we rode for hours. We avoided the main roads, using the side roads just riding. It felt free to leave the worry of being seen by someone behind for a while. I could have cared less at this point anyways. I knew what I wanted plain and clear with Juice. What we'd just done only fueled the fire that started burning inside of me after that first kiss.

Saturday was a slow day for us, we had breakfast in bed laughing and talking more. I felt like I was getting to know Juice on a whole different level. He told me club stuff if I asked about it. I found out he had ADD, and didn't sleep much unless he had something to help him. He'd gotten mixed in with the club by hacking for them, setting up security cameras, doing all the techie jobs for them. And he missed black and white cookies like an addict missed their fix.

Mom called every two hours, driving me crazy. Juice just smiled every time the phone rang, even though I knew it had to be driving him insane. His phone had been silent, no texts, calls, nothing. I took it as a good sign that I was the only female that had the number apart from my Mom. "I don't want to go back" I told him while we were sitting on the porch steps together that evening smoking again.

Juice was sitting two steps lower than me, his back propped up against my legs. "Me either. Going back to cleaning toilets and serving beer at night, being a mechanic during the day is starting to suck huge balls."

"How much longer til you patch in?" I asked him tilting my head back enjoying the breeze out.

"Three long weeks. I hope they get a new Prospect in fast. Jax said the other guys were real mechanics not club guys so I don't know who they'll find."

In a slow motion I rubbed his shoulders, smiling when I heard him sighing. "They will. There's always hang arounds. I've saw a couple of them, trying to fit in." There were always guys that wanted in, no matter how shitty club life could get, it was better to be in than out.

Juice rolled his head forward showing me he wanted me to rub his neck too. "Its been fun up here, just us Lee."

"You're not a bad guy to run off with Carlos." I threw in his middle name still massaging him. "What's on the agenda tonight?"

He twisted around looking at me with soft, warm brown eyes. "Mmmm… pizza. And tequila. Maybe you'll be lucky and get some more brown love." He flashed me a grin and a wink before he lunged, picking me up with ease, carrying me back inside.

"Juice!" I shrieked ,laughing play hitting for him to put me back down. He was tickling my sides the whole way into the room where he dropped me onto the bed. He kicked his boots off before falling down beside me. "Goof." I teased rolling to sit on top of him a leg on either side of him. "Our last night together."

"Don't remind me. I really-" He was cut off by the ringing phone. I groaned knowing if I didn't answer it'd be more suspicious. "Better get that." He smirked slapping my butt when I stood up.

"Hey Mom… Yeah I'll be home early tomorrow. Mmmhmmm…" I made a face at Juice who was starting to roll around on the bed getting comfortable. "I know. Yeah pasta is fine for tomorrow. We miss you too. Oh, Jess is in the shower." _And the lies just kept on coming and coming. _

Luckily she only called three more times before we left on Sunday. I was trying to be incognito wearing shades, Juice's hoodie and my pair pulled back under the helmet. He dropped me off at Jess's house, taking off before I could even try to give him a hug or kiss bye. I frowned a little at that, I'd thought we were on a different level now, but chalked it up to not wanting to be seen by anyone including Jess's parents.

Jess ran outside, still in her pajamas even though it was already afternoon. "Oh my god! What happened? I tried texting like a million times!" she grabbed my hand pulling towards her house.

I laughed at how excited she was following her into her room, seeing no one else was at home. "Where do you want me to start?" I asked dropping my bag on the floor. "It was amazing."

She hopped on the pink covered bed grinning at me. "Spill everything. Now." She pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail. "I can't believe we pulled this off."

I sat down on her bean bag chair, crossing my legs underneath me. "Fine. But don't expect details beyond what I give." This wasn't like screwing around with one of my ex's. I wanted to keep some things private. I gave her the details on everything that happened, her asking questions in between trying to find out more. "I guess I should get going home. Are you coming too?"

Jess shook her head no, getting up to follow me to the door. "Nope. I promised Mom I'd stay home tonight again."

So I headed off home, walking the few blocks lost in my own thoughts. I didn't know how much longer I could stand keeping everything a secret after what had happened. It changed once we were together for the weekend, I felt closer to him. And I didn't think it was just because we had sex. Juice never said much on his feelings while we were gone except to say he'd had fun, he liked being around me, stuff like that. I couldn't tell if it was an attraction thing with him or a lonely thing.

I walked up the driveway spotting Dad's Dyna parked behind the Caddy. I knew I'd have to head straight to the shower as soon as I got inside, I reeked like pot. We'd smoked a ton while we were at the cabin, only drank some. "Hey Daddy." I smiled when I stepped inside the back door seeing him at the breakfast table reading over something. "Missed you."

Dad tossed the papers to the table his blue eyes shining when he saw me. "How's my baby girl?" He held his arms open for me to come hug him.

I obliged giving him a tight hug. "I'm gonna go get a shower. I'm tired." I kissed his cheek before heading off to my room.

I threw my backpack in the closet, deciding to go through it later, and went to the bathroom locking the door behind me. The last thing I needed was for someone to walk in and spot all of the 'love marks' Juice had left behind. I was washing my hair when I heard the other door open. "Lowell I'm in here!" I yelled over the water . I didn't even know Lowell was over.

"Its Mom. Lowell went back to his hotel yesterday." Mom said shutting the door behind her.

I froze . I'd been hoping to avoid her until tomorrow. "Oh…. Do you need something?" I asked continuing with my shower knowing I'd have to stay in until she left.

"Just wanted to talk. See how your weekend away went." Mom hoisted herself onto granite counter top telling me she wasn't planning on going anywhere.

"It was fun. We just did girl stuff." I replied rewashing my hair, trying to kill time. "What'd you two do?"

Mom was digging through my stuff on the counter, I could hear my make up containers, perfume and hair products being pushed around. "Oh nothing you didn't do I'm sure. Shouldn't you be done by now? You've washed your hair twice."

"Can you pass me a towel?" I asked her shutting off the water trying to push my wet hair around my neck.

"Sure sweetie." She pulled the shower curtain back holding it out to me, a look in her eyes that I'd never had to face before, but had saw Jax deal with. "I think we should talk in here. Where your father can't overhear us."

I felt my stomach tighten up in knots. "Okay."

"Anything you might want to tell me?" Mom asked crossing her arms over her chest.

I pulled the white towel closer to my body. "Not that I can think of." I shrugged stepping out of the shower stall. I knew she knew then. How I had no idea.

Mom smirked at me, holding out her phone. "Maybe you want to explain something to me then. The funniest thing happened the other day. I answered your phone, and it was a guy. When I dialed it from my phone, it was Juice." Her dark eyes looked angry now, piercing me when she looked into mine. "And he said he couldn't wait to be alone with you for a weekend."

I grabbed my hairbrush starting to brush through my knotted hair avoiding looking at her again. "I don't know."

"Are you fuckin the Rican?" Mom asked bluntly. "This cant happen. You know that."

I slammed the brush into the counter and turned to face her. "Nothings happening." I told her in a cold voice I didn't know I possessed. "We're just friends."

"Then why'd you have to lie about where you were going? Who you were going with?" She pointed out grabbing a hold of my wrist. "If the club finds out, he's dead. Clay will kill him."

"Good thing no one knows anything then."

Mom gave me a hard look shaking her head. "Aleah, you-"

I cut her off starting to tear up my emotions starting to get the better of me. The stress from hiding Juice from everyone was eating away at me after being home a hour. "Don't tell. Please don't tell." I begged her jerking my arm from her grasp to wipe at the few small tears that had escaped. "I don't even know what's going on. You've done the same thing." That was a low blow I knew. But everyone knew Gemma and my Dad weren't exactly honest about their relationship either.

She softened some, wiping away my tears for me with the corner of my towel. "Fine." She sighed pulling me into a hug. "Just remember, Juice gets around more than your brothers whore. Make sure you use the condoms I packed in your bag."

I almost laughed hearing that it was her that did it. "We're not sleeping together." I lied knowing it'd be worse if she knew we already had.

"I can take you to the clinic if you want, get everything checked out." Mom told me holding me at arms length now. "I'll kill you if he knocks you up. Then him. And I already know you slept with him."

She gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before slipping back out through the guest side of the bathroom. I was in deep. Gemma knowing made this even worse.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: The reviews for the last chapter were great! Thank you all so much :D I like seeing the alerts just as much :D Glad to see so many of you are reading this. **

**This chapter may seem like a bit of a filler, but I promise everything happening in here, has a point. The ball starts rolling now. Thanks goes to jess for all of the brain storming that we do and keeping me sane while I watch the show and write at the same time to keep the plot straight lol. This chapter it titled after the Smashing Pumpkins 'Today'. **

**If anyone of you has read the SOA comic, please PM me! I have questions :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own sons of anarchy Kurt Sutter does. I only own my Ocs. **

Chapter 6 Today (Today is the great day I've ever had)

Today was the day. The guys were in chapel voting on me, it had to unanimous, but I wasn't too worried about that. I hadn't pissed anyone off so far, so I didn't see what any one of them could hold against me. I was trying to wait patiently, but that was a joke. I washed glasses from last night, straightening up some. I glanced up at the security cameras seeing Gemma and Aleah pull into the lot.

I propped myself up against the bar watching as they got out of the car. I didn't know where we stood with each other but she was fun to be around. I had a lot of fun at the cabin with her, that'd been our last chance to be alone overnight but she'd snuck over a couple of times since then. She seemed so young to be apart of all of this, I knew that was a big reason I was holding back from just being with her. I didn't want to bring it up to Clay and her not be serious. Our age difference was a huge factor in everything. She was still jail bait for a couple of more months so I was already scared shitless.

Sipping on my beer, I watched a while longer, seeing her and Gemma taking bags out of the trunk into the office a few times. Gemma hadn't said anything to me yet about finding out I'd taken her underage out daughter out for a weekend of sex, drugs, and booze.

"Juice!" Bobby barked out from the leather padded chapel doors. "Come here."

I sat my bottle down hurrying over to the room trying not to look like an excited little kid. "Yeah? What's up?" I asked knowing I sounded eager.

A cut was thrown out with the Sons of Anarchy logos stitched on to it. "You're in. Club dues the 1st of each month, patch in party Saturday." Bobby told me taking back the Prospect cut I'd been wearing.

I slid on the cut feeling like a bad ass automatically, loving the weight of the heavy leather and knowing there was a top rocker on this one. "Thanks. Thanks guys." I told them grinning ear to ear while they gave me a slap on the back or a man hug.

Clay was sitting at the head of the table with the gavel with somewhat of a grin and a 'tough' look. "Treat us like your brothers, we treat you like ours."

Chibs gave me a quick hug, slapping me on the shoulder. "Didn't think ye'd make it Juicy Boy."

Tig reached over, patting me on the back. "We'll fix you up with some grade A gash tomorrow." He winked at me. "Leave it to your brother."

I laughed almost scared to know what kind of woman Tig would get me for the night. I'd seen some of the females he'd brought into the clubhouse. "Thanks man." I took my seat at the end on the long table loving it.

"Next order of business, Mayans." Clay said looking down at all of us on either side of him. "We had a run in with them last night, They're outnumbering us. I need half of us to go take care of that problem and a couple of guys to go 'talk' to our new friend Mr. Ross."

I'd heard them talking about Mr. Ross, the guy had just moved into town and thought he was going to open an adult store on Main St. The Sons didn't want an adult store on Main St. where our wives and children walked. We'd gotten word through a source that he had plans on dealing X and other pills out of the back room on top of that.

Jax spoke up, leaned back in his chair, arms propped up on himself. "I'll go to Ross'. Take Juice with me. Start him out slow." He gave me a grin moving back and forth in his seat.

I nodded showing him I was in. "I'm in." I told the others eager to get in on the club business, prove I could take it.

"Good. Meet back here tonight when we're all done." Clay told us banging the gavel down loudly.

I stood following Jax out into the clubhouse. "You carrying?" He asked me pausing before we went outside.

"Always." I replied touching the waist of my jeans to show him. I'd learned you always had a gun on you once you were associated with the Sons. You never could tell when you might need it.

We headed outside to the parking lot, each of us getting on our bikes. I spotted Aleah walking to the clubhouse with Gemma, her ass moving with the swing of her hips. "Ready?" Jax raised his voice over the roar of us kicking our bikes up, making me tear my eyes away from my new brothers little sister. I nodded, following him out.

The drive over to Ross's place wasn't far. It took us about twenty minutes to get there, hitting the side streets. We headed into the building, no merchandise was out yet, just Ross in there setting up shelves and display cases. "I thought I told you guys not to come back." The tall, broad shouldered older man snarled at us.

"Relax man. We're just here to talk to you." I told him walking around while Jax did the talking. I wasn't up to speed on our scare tactics yet so I played lookout.

"I said you're closing shop." Jax snapped at Ross grabbing him by his shirt. "We don't need your kind of stuff here."

Ross smirked at Jax before spitting in his face. "Fuck you guys." He got out before Jax swung pummeling him. I jogged over hurriedly pulling Jax off of him before he could hurt him too bad.

"Get your shit. And get the fuck out of Charming." I told him letting go of Jax. Jax gave him a cold stare as we started to back out. "Don't make us come back."

"Or what kid?" Ross sneered at me wiping the blood off of his nose with his sleeve. "You gonna send more goons in to harass me? I'm not scared of you punk ass biker bitches."

Something snapped in me. I had never been a violent person but it snapped inside me. I lunged at him slamming him backwards into the glass display case. I beat him until my hands hurt and Jax was the one dragging me off this time. "Juice! Come on man!"

I gave him one last kick to the ribs before we took off jumping on our bikes and taking off. The adrenaline I had pumping through my body was amazing. We rode down to the warehouse checking on things. I started putting a few AK's together while Jax made phone calls telling Clay about what had happened. I zoned him out for a while checking my phone for texts. I had a prepaid now for the club to call and I kept my personal on me for Aleah mostly.

"Ready to head back?" Jax asked stepping back inside a cigarette in his lips.

"Yeah. I got a couple finished." I pointed at the wooden crate I'd slid back into its hiding spot. "What's the plan now?"

He tossed the butt down shrugging. "Not much else happening. The others went to Mayan territory, had a meeting. We should go back to the shop though, make sure they're okay. I gotta check on Wendy."

I knew his Old Lady was having some problems. He'd sent her off to rehab once already, and was trying like hell to keep her clean. I did my share of dabbling but I knew when to stop too. One rule of the Sons was no addicts. It showed you were weak to depend on something like drugs or alcohol. We went back to the clubhouse, Jax left soon after we got there and I hung around having a few beers with Tig and Piney.

It was about 10 when we saw the Charming PD car pull into the parking lot. "Shit. We got company" I nodded to the surveillance.

"For once I don't think we did anything." Tig laughed standing up to face the door.

Hale busted through the clubhouse doors looking smug. "Why hello boys. Always good to see you."

"What the hell do you want?" Piney grumbled at him giving him a go to hell look, his tequila bottle with the straw in his hand.

Hale smirked at him. "I just so happen to be here on official business. I have a warrant for a Juan Carlos Ortiz."

I snorted setting my beer bottle down. "For what? I didn't do shit." my mind raced, trying to think of anything I'd done in the past few days that warranted an arrest.

He motioned to the officer with him to cuff me, I obliged knowing fighting them would just make it harder for the club to get me back out. "Juan Carlos you are under the arrest for the assault and battery of a Mr. Preston Ross."

"You've got to be shitting me. I didn't touch him.!" I argued my hands cuffed behind my back as they started herding me out of the clubhouse.

"Don't worry man. We'll find out what's going on" Tig called after me. "I'm calling Clay now."

I was officially a member of the Sons of Anarchy for one day, and already in jail for them.

It was late Friday night when I heard the home phone ringing off the hook. I groaned sitting up to check the time. Only 11. I frowned looking at the homework I'd fallen asleep doing. The phone quit ringing then started again. "Guess I'll get it." I said to myself annoyed, crawling out of the bed.

I walked quietly down the hallway just when I heard my mom say "Clay, get up. Tig's on the phone. Said he's been trying your cell for a hour."

I paused outside their door, hiding behind the corner listening in. "He's what? What do you mean they arrested Juice?"

My heart skipped a beat. "I'll call Unser and take care of it. It's a misunderstanding."

I crept away when I heard the mattress creak, telling me they were getting back up. I'd tried texting Juice earlier and had gotten no reply, I knew why now. I went to the kitchen pretending to be getting something to drink until they came out. "Hey sweetie. I thought you went to bed?" Mom said coming in, tying her robe back.

"I did. The phone woke me up." I gave her a small smile. "Must have been important."

"Must have." Mom gave me a smile in return not mentioning a word of what she knew. She just lit a cigarette.

I could hear my Dad's voice carrying through the dead quiet house. "C'mon he's just a kid. He's harmless Wayne. Ross must be mistaken about who it was. No, no one was there today. Not Juice so I don't know why he'd want to line up and identify the other one."

I felt Mom's eyes on me trying to see if I was listening in or not. "I'm going back to bed." I gave her a quick hug heading back down the hallway.

"Someone will be there in a few minutes to get him then. Remember, it wasn't him."

So now I knew for a fact my parents were hiding things from me. It made me uncomfortable to know that Mom wouldn't tell me things that were going on with Juice, that she'd keep to the club rules of not speaking about anything. It made me wonder what else Juice had done that she wasn't going to tell me about.

Jail in Charming wasn't too bad. Unser had brought me cigarettes and a coffee to hold me over until he could do some persuasion to get me out. I had my own tiny little cell with no TV and no one in the others. It'd taken all night to process paperwork, the sun was rising bright and blinding.

"Ya know I think this is some kind of record." Jax laughed walking with me out to his Dodge.

"Tell me about it. I'm patched for one day and already in the slammer." I hopped in the passenger side. "Can you drop me off at my place? I think I'm gonna crash until later unless you guys need me. Can't believe that douche only had me arrested."

Jax shook his head making the turn for my street. "Nope. Nothing going on today. Chibs, Bobby, and Clay made the gun run last night so everyone's pretty much waiting around for your patch in party tonight. And I think Ross was playin favorites."

I was waiting too. I was going to party my ass off tonight. There'd be sweet butts, crow eaters, beer, liquor and plenty of weed. Party of the year for me. "Garage covered?"

"Yeah. We hired a couple of guys outside the MC." He replied pulling into my driveway. "See you later."

I waved to him as I headed inside my house. It'd been a couple days since I'd slept there so it was as always a wreck inside. I went straight to my room and fell onto the bed just laying there for a while thinking. I should go to sleep I knew, since I'd be up all night and most of tomorrow too. Or I could call Aleah and see what she was doing today. I felt in my pockets for my phone pulling it out grinning when I saw I had a few unread texts from her already.

_Aleah: Heard what happened. You ok?_

_Aleah: I'll be around if you wanna hang out later_

Deciding to chance it I hit the call button. I never really called her except for on the garage phone a couple times. "Hello?" She answered her voice sounding cheerful.

"Hey. I'm out." I told her shutting my eyes and picturing her. The way it sounded she was at home watching TV. "Thought you'd be at work."

"Nah. Mom went in this morning, said she wanted to be around to help for some party later tonight." I could picture her smiling while she talked to me, the dimple in her left cheek showing. "I was starting to think they'd kept you."

I grabbed a pillow and stuffed it under my head starting to feel sleepy. "Wanna do something?" I yawned. I had no idea what we could do, but I knew we'd find something to get into.

"Hmmmm…. Like what? Jess is here too." She reminded me.

I didn't mind Jessica, she was cool to be around but it was kinda a pain sometimes having the third wheel. She was laid back, didn't smother us when we wanted to be alone but it was still a killer sometimes. "So I'll borrow a car. We'll all fit."

I could hear her whispering to Jessica, covering the phone up. "Jess said let's go to the beach. No one will see us that knows us that far away."

"Works for me." I sat up running a hand over my Mohawk seeing if I needed to shave it before I went anywhere. As messy as my house was I didn't like looking rough, I didn't rewear clothes and I kept my Mohawk and face shaved.

"I'll call Mom, see if we can take her car."

We talked for a few more minutes making plans before we hung up with her coming to pick me up. Kind of embarrassing having your date come for you, but in this case it was all I had. I hopped in the shower hurriedly getting ready to go. I grabbed an empty cooler I had in the spare room I filled with my computer parts, my pot plant in the corner, and other junk. I was ready to go and sitting outside on the steps waiting for them when the car screeched into my driveway with Jess behind the wheel.

"Who the hell taught you how to drive?" I asked Jessica walking to the car. My neighbors were peeking out at me from behind their shades. They didn't like having a Son living next door to them at all. If I even smiled in their directions they glared and went inside slamming the doors behind them.

Jessica climbed out of the drivers side pushing her sunglasses up grinning at me while Aleah got out of the passenger seat. I grinned at Aleah checking out her beach wear. She had some sort of a little strapless tie dyed dress on over her bathing suit, the straps to her top showing where they went around her neck. It showed me her body perfectly. I loved her curves and even more I liked hearing her laugh.

I glanced around before leaning over to plant a kiss on her lips. "You girls ready?"

Aleah nodded her eyes shining bright when they looked at me. "Yep. I talked Mom out of her car on the condition we had to let you drive after we picked you up though, and if we get sand in it she'll kill us."

Ah-ha. So they told Gemma they were meeting up with me. "Cool. I don't think we'd get far with Speedy here behind the wheel anyways." I laughed at Jess crawling in the backseat. "I gotta stop off on the way for ice and drinks."

I tossed my stuff in the trunk with their beach bags and we were off. I turned the radio up, tuning out the girls talking while I drove. Every now and then I could feel Aleah's eyes on me looking me over. The beach was roughly a hour away from Charming, not too far of a drive but it felt like 10 hours with two teenage girls in the car. It was making me question what the hell I'd been thinking when I decided to hook up with one.

"You guys want anything?" I asked pulling into the small gas station a few miles before we'd be at the beach. "Cokes? Chips?"

Aleah and Jess shared a smile before Aleah bit her lip looking at me. "How about some wine coolers?"

I smirked at them. I wasn't about to be taken for a sucker. "Sorry. No can do. I just got out of jail today, and I'm not lookin to go back already."

"Gemma buys them for us. Sometimes." Jessica cut in giving me a bright smile. "No one will know."

Aleah gave me a pouty look. "C'mon Carlos." she pleaded knowing I'd give in the minute she pulled Carlos out of her bag.

I sighed looking at each of them before slamming the door. If the underage sex didn't put me away, the contributing to two minors would. I went inside grabbing myself beer, cigarettes, Cheetos, and a pack of gum. I paused thinking on it as I laid the stuff I'd already grabbed on the counter. "I'll be right back." I told the guy at the counter walking back to the cooler again.

I grabbed two 6-packs of Smirnoff wine coolers knowing I was in for hell if anyone ever found out about this. "I'm gonna get a bag of ice from the cooler outside too." I told him before counting out my cash.

A short while later we were finally at the beach, it wasn't too crowded. It was starting to get fall so it had cooled down some meaning the crowd was dying down with it. "You're not talking much." Aleah told me her face smiling from behind the huge sunglasses she slipped on.

"Just tired." I gave her a small peck on the check moving past her to grab their bags for them. Being the only guy out with two girls had its down falls. But it had one hell of an upside at the looks I was getting walking down the sand with a blonde on one side, a brunette on the other.

Aleah walked beside me, her feet kicking up the sand, she'd slid her flip flops off. "Have you ever been to the beach before?"

"Mmm. Yeah. Just not in California." I replied not elaborating. I didn't mind talking about some things with Aleah, but there were some things I kept to myself mainly anything before I came to Charming.

Jessica stopped at a spot that didn't have anyone too close by. "Here ok?" She asked dropping down her neon yellow towel.

"Sure." I dropped the cooler and both beach totes down beside her. "You guys getting in the water?"

Aleah started shimmying out of the little dress she had on. "I am. You comin with?"

Nodding I took my SAMCRO shirt off, kicked my shoes off and started for the water. "C'mon." I grabbed her hand pulling her with me. Jessica would be fine on her own.

Aleah let me drag her out into the cool water. It was nowhere near as warm as I thought it'd be. "Its kind of freezing." She paused trying to let herself adjust to it.

I wrapped my arms around her pulling her closer to me. "I'll warm you up." I offered using one of the cheesiest lines ever.

She tucked her chin into my chest letting me hold her closer while I inched us further out into the salt water. "So what'd you go in for last night?" She asked me.

"It was just a big misunderstanding." I told her giving her a smile. "Just people causing trouble." And I was the one that caused the trouble by beating a man down. It just didn't seem right to tell her that though. Aleah was more of a nice, good girl that Clay had somehow sheltered from us.

After we'd adjusted to the temperature we played around splashing each other, I'd grab her foot and jerk it to make her fall over just to hear her shriek. I was having a pretty good time even though I was exhausted. We were walking back up to the shore with Aleah a couple of steps ahead of me when I reached over and smacked her on the ass. She shot me a look of daggers before taking off running ahead of me.

I chuckled to myself kicking up water while I walked then sand. "What's wrong?" I asked her falling down beside her on the towel I'd brought with me. I twisted to the side grabbing myself a drink pouring it in a plastic cup.

"Nothing." She smiled at me scooting a little bit closer to me. She had her own drink out already and there was no sign of Jess anywhere near by. "I wonder what happened to Jess."

Shrugging I took three quick gulps finishing off my beer. "No idea." And I didn't really care. She was a big girl, she knew all about the stranger danger rule. "Why don't you take the shorts off?" I asked realizing she still had on a pair of black shorts with her bikini top. I washed my eyes over her stomach liking how it wasn't exactly flat but had a curve on the sides. Not a bad rack either.

"I don't know." Aleah said looking away leaning back on the elbows. "Its really pretty out." she observed watching kids fly kites near us. "I heard you got your patch."

I leaned back like she was, elbows in the sand. "Yep. Yesterday. We're having a patch in party tonight." I knew she wouldn't be there. Too young, too risky, and too close to the guys for Clay's liking. "I gotta be back around 4."

Aleah pushed her sunglasses up glancing at me. "Party huh?"

I knew what she was thinking without her even saying it. She always rolled her eyes when she saw crow eaters or sweet butts talking to me at the clubhouse or the garage. "Yep. Just a few of us." I leaned over and gave her a kiss, knowing there wasn't anyone we knew nearby.

Her cheeks flushed, something I noticed always happened when I tried anything physical. Cute. I kissed her again this time I didn't break it. I placed a hand on her hip deepening it. "Juice.. Stop." She whispered pushing me away. "There's people out here."

"Obviously." I snapped before I even realized I did it. I was grouchier than I thought I was. "Sorry." I mumbled rolling away from her.

"Its okay." Aleah stood up brushing sand off of herself. "Let's go for a walk." she suggested.

I got up walking beside her in silence for a few feet while I smoked. I had no idea if I was supposed to smoke on a public beach but I didn't see anyone to tell me not to either. "So how's everything?" I asked lamely not sure of what to talk about. She was being so quiet it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

She reached for my hand after I tossed my cigarette, I started to pull it back but decided against it. I grasped her smaller hand in mine giving it a squeeze. "Everything's good. I started applying for colleges. Dad wants me to go to community college for a couple of years. Jax didn't go so its up to me."

I gave her a sidelong look. "What are you going for?" I knew I'd asked this before but I was too tired to rack my brains for the answer.

"Nursing. I want to be a RN. Maybe a LPN." Aleah replied swinging our locked hands back and forth.

I spotted Jessica, standing by a rental booth with a few guys talking. She, unlike Aleah, had taken everything off down to her tiny bikini that covered pretty much nothing. I looked away feeling unfaithful even though Aleah was _NOT_ my girlfriend. Checking out her friend would be a little wrong though. We walked a while longer, stopping to get her a pretzel from a vendor. She argued with me on paying for it until she gave in.

Aleah nibbled on hers daintily while I finished mine in two bites. It wasn't near as good as New York's but it'd work until we left. "You know, I don't know if I can keep doing this." I told her honestly not sure what had just brought it on. "If the club finds out I'm keeping secrets, they'll be pissed."

I knew what the rules were of the club, they were clear on that before I joined, I had my own secrets locked away already I didn't need to keep adding to them. I liked Aleah, liked being with her but it was starting to get too tricky.

"So we'll tell them." Aleah spoke up tightening her grip on my hand. We were walking just close to the water for it to splash over our feet. "I'll be 18 soon."

"And I'll be 24 next month." I pointed out. "I'm not getting any younger. And what exactly are we going to tell Clay? That we've been hanging out? Sleeping together?" I knew he'd be pissed off no matter what we were doing, playing chess or fucking.

Aleah used her free hand to push a few stray brown hairs back. "I don't know. What do you want this to be?"

I'd been avoiding this conversation for a while. I didn't know what I wanted. I liked having my freedom as a single man, but I also liked the comfort of having Aleah there. "I want-" I jumped as a pile of wet sand smacked against my back. I whirled around ready to tear into whoever did it.

Jessica giggled throwing another handful at Aleah. "Hey lovebirds. I think its time to get going. Its already two."

I dropped Aleah's hand chasing after Jessica , she ran a few feet before she tripped. I grabbed her easily tossing her into the waves. "Juice!" She shrieked standing up trying to fix her bikini. "I didn't want to get wet!"

We were all laughing as we got out stuff together, walking back to the car trying to shake sand off of ourselves. I walked between the girls carrying their stuff for them. We were a few feet from the car when I spotted the Mayan. He had a girl with him too, and he was staring straight at me. We locked eyes for a minute and I shook my head at him showing him I had no beef right now. "Get in the car." I told Aleah keeping my eyes on him.

Aleah followed my eyes seeing what I was looking at. "Okay." She didn't argue motioning for Jess to crawl in the back.

I closed the trunk after I slipped my shirt on leaving my cut off for now. I glanced back at the Mayan again noting he was a younger guy, closer to my age. I got in the car and sped off putting as much distance between us and him as I could. I let my right hand rest on the gear shift while I drove. I was staring straight ahead at the road when I felt Aleah's fingers rest on mine. I didn't push it off but I tensed up some my grouchiness starting to come back.

The drive back was silent except for the girls talking here and there, I kept to myself knowing I was being anti social. I didn't speak until I pulled in my driveway. "You coming in?" I asked Aleah hoping she'd say yes.

She shook her head no though. "I gotta get the car back. I'm sure Mom needs it. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

I got out feeling irritated with her. "Yeah. Maybe. We'll see." I grabbed my stuff watching as Jess climbed back in the drivers side. Gemma would be lucky to have any gears left by the time they made it back to the shop.

Aleah was easily a foot shorter than I was, so when she started to get on her tip toes I knew what was coming. I took a step back from her blowing it off. "There's people around." I told her in a mocking tone. "I'll see you around. Kid." I gave her a wave then Jess before I turned and went inside my house.

After I'd showered again, put jeans and a reaper shirt on with my cut, I started heading over to the clubhouse. I was running late, my phone had been blowing up with calls and texts from the guys trying to find out where I was. It was 6 before I finally made it there since I had to walk. My bike was still there from when I got arrested the day before. I saw Gemma's car in the parking lot when I walked up. I hoped like hell the girls weren't there.

"Hey party boy." Gemma said to me with a sly smile. "Enjoy your nap?" She put emphasis on the word nap.

I sat down on the couch beside her desk, kicking my feet up. "Yeah. I was exhausted." I told her digging for my own cigarettes.

She tossed me her pack with her lighter. "You know, I don't usually approve of illegal activities so I just thought I'd warn you, you knock her up, hurt her in any way and I will cut your little dick off. Got it?"

I lit my cigarette and leaned up handing them back to her. "Got it." I breathed out with my smoke. "But I'm sure I don't know who you're talking about."

Gemma smirked at me finishing picking up her desk. "I'm sure you don't sweetheart. Don't have too good of a time tonight."

I didn't know if that was some sort of a warning or a friendly jibe. But three hours later the party was in full swing. I'd had drink after drink after drink along with a couple joints and I didn't give a damn about anyone but me. The music was blaring loud through the clubhouse, crow eaters and sweet butts were everywhere. There were even a couple on the stripper pole dancing with each other. I sat at the table in front of them watching intrigued at the show.

"You never saw a naked bitch before or what?" Another Son asked me. He was from the Tacoma charter and I knew he thought I was a preschooler compared to him.

"Yeah. But you never see enough." I told him laughing with him as the stripper tossed her g string at us.

He held his hand out to me. "Happy."

"Juice." I introduced myself shaking his hand. "I'm dry." I stood up going to the bar for another drink. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this drunk. The room spun a little bit tilting as I walked. "I need…. I need a.. drink." I told the blonde crow eater tending the bar.

She gave me a wink eyeing me up and down. "You the one this is for?" she asked getting me a glass down.

"Yeah. Jack and Coke." I ordered watching her mix the drink before sliding it across the counter to me.

The blonde crow eater hopped up on the bar, showing me she was wearing a teeny tiny skirt that barely covered her cash n prizes. She swung her long legs over the side of the counter on either side of me. "Why don't you let me break you in then honey?" she purred.

I downed my drink focused on the boobs that were popping out of the skimpy top she had on. "Oh yeah? How?" I smirked at her leaning in to let her whisper in my ear.

"Juicy-Boy!" Chibs clapped me on the back coming up behind me. "Who's yer friend?"

I lifted my head up squinting at the Scotsman beside me. "I don't know." I told him honestly. "We're about to get acquainted though."

Chibs shook his head at me looking out at the crowd of bikers and babes. "Be careful." He told me in a low voice.

I had an idea of what he was talking about. But I didn't really care. I was single and drunk. I picked the crow eater up off of the bar standing up, she wrapped her legs around me. "Come on." I whispered to her. "Let's go have our own party."

Just as I tossed her down on the bed in the apartment and went to shut the door I spotted Gemma giving me a cold look. I gave her a blank stare before slamming the door and locking it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all for the reviews and follows/favorites! I really really love seeing them pop in my inbox. I just wanted to add in here that yes Juice is kinda being a douche right now, but well… everyone has bad days and he's a good guy that guilt eats at. We all know that. I promise sweet goofy Juice will be making an appearance soon but if you're expecting a magical fluffy, no problems type of relationship here… its not. These two have more issues to go through than Playboy. **

**Special thanks goes to Jessica as always for help and contributions to the fic. I'm proud to say I have 8 chapters written ahead and ready now. Just hang in there with me, the fic starts to get pretty good after this. **

Chapter 7 Monster Mash

Mom picked me up from school on Tuesday, I'd called her and told her I wasn't feeling well which wasn't a lie. I had the worst head cold I could ever remember. I felt horrible but hated to miss so I tried going anyways. By lunch I knew I couldn't make it for three more hours.

"Mind if we stop by the garage?" Mom asked me reaching over to feel my forehead, her palm felt like ice on my skin.

I shook my head slumped over in the passenger seat. "I don't care." I muttered to her. I'd usually be excited to go by the garage and see Juice but I was too sick to care. We'd text a couple of times since Saturday's trip to the beach but that was it. He hadn't invited me over and I hadn't asked to go over.

Mom pulled in parking lot close by the office door. "I'll be right back out ok sweetheart?"

I nodded unbuckling myself, getting out too. "Hey LeeLee" Tig called walking over to me grease everywhere on his Teller-Morrow work shirt. "Give Uncle Tigger a hug."

I gave him a small smile. "No thanks Tig. I've saw cleaner dogs than you."

Bobby chuckled perched on one of the picnic tables eating a piece of banana bread. "Shouldn't you be at school kiddo?"

"I'm sick." I sighed giving him a pitiful look. "Probably not as sick as I'd be if I ate your banana bread though."

"You have jokes today huh?" Bobby swatted for me to go away. "Go make fun of someone else with your germs."

I slunk off to the open shop bays, saying hi to Lowell, Frank, and John the regular mechanics that Dad had hired to pick up the slack. I saw Juice in the corner of the garage fighting with an exhaust for a motorcycle. "Hey stranger." I croaked out coughing a little bit.

Juice looked up at me, his eyes looked startled. "Oh hey. I didn't hear you walk up." He put the exhaust down and stood up lighting a cigarette. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Apparently. You're the millionth person to ask me that since I got here." I gave him a small smile sitting down on a work stool. "Haven't talked to you much."

Juice shrugged carelessly starting to dig around through the gigantic black tool boxes looking for something. "Been busy."

I frowned watching him plunder almost like he was nervous. "I thought you might be mad or something."

He paused glancing around us to make sure no one else was in hearing reach. "Why would I be mad?" He flicked his cigarette ashes down dragging on it again.

"You were mad Saturday." I pointed out to him, he'd been a grouch bad enough to rival Piney on a good day. "And you haven't really text me much."

Juice rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding his lit cigarette. He looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. "Just busy. Thinking on some things."

I felt my stomach twist, maybe Jess was right. She'd told me he probably hooked up with a crow eater Saturday night at his patch party. I stood up from the stool to stand beside him at the tool box. Lowell and the other mechanics were coming back in from their break, I knew we'd have to talk low not to be overheard. "Did you…. I mean… are you seeing someone else?" I asked quietly.

"What's it matter to you?" Juice asked me shaking his head digging through the box again. "We're not together."

I felt tears start to sting my eyes but I held them back determined not to let him hurt me. "Did you fuck some whore?" I whispered hoping no one would hear. It did no good though thanks to Juice's reaction.

He slammed the lid down on the tool box so hard it rattled everything near it. "Don't you even start with that shit. You hear me? I do what I want." He didn't bother trying to keep his voice down.

I had no idea what had gotten into him. He was never as moody as he was now. "Fine. I've had better anyways" I turned walking away from him very aware that Lowell and the others had heard everything that had just happened between us. I went inside the office where Mom was counting out bills into separate piles.

"Give me just a minute Lee, I'm getting the bank deposit ready then we can go." Mom peered at me over the top of her black reading glasses. "What's wrong with you?"

I didn't answer her, instead I laid down on the worn out plaid couch and curled up into a ball. "You know, he didn't get to be a Son because he charmed Clay with his sweetness and gentle demeanor."

I ignored her shutting my eyes. My head was pounding now, and I could feel that I was running a fever. "I feel horrible." I whined to her. "Can't you come back after you drop me off? Or have Dad take me home?"

"Your Dads out for a business meeting." She replied still counting out money and scribbling things down. "He won't be back until tomorrow morning. Jax and Chibs went with him too."

"Hey Gemma, I'm done with the Mercury whenever the lady comes for it. I'm working on the 1100 that was brought in." Juice's voice came into the office.

I peeked at him, he had his back to me facing Mom while he talked to her. I saw him move towards the drink machine and then sound of a soda dropping down. "Great. I'll give her a call. You think you could do me a favor and run her home?"

"Yeah. Sure. Let me tell Lowell I'll be right back."

"Juice, take the car. I don't know if she can hold on." Mom told him poking at me to get up. "You kids be nice."

I threw her a dirty look rolling up slowly. I didn't even care that my brown slacks and chevron top were wrinkled up. I trudged to the car slamming the door after me. It took Juice a minute or two before he got in. "Do you need to stop for some medicine or something?" He asked me heading out of the compound lot.

"What do you care?" I mumbled to him digging through my purse when I felt my phone vibrating. "Hey Eli." I said answering it. "Yeah definitely. We'll both be there Saturday. Probably about 7. Let us know if something changes. Wouldn't miss it for the world." I hung up knowing it was killing Juice to know who I'd just talked to. It'd been Elijah the guy who always had the biggest and baddest Halloween bash. It was this Saturday and I didn't care if I was sick, I was going.

"Got a date huh?" Juice finally asked turning the radio down.

Smirking at him I stuffed the phone back into my purse. "Maybe. I mean since we're not together like that and all." I tossed his words back at him.

Juice rolled his brown eyes pulling into my driveway slowly. "I'm sorry ok? I don't know what we are and neither do you."

As horrible as I felt I perked up a little bit when he referred to us as a 'we' again. "Why don't you come in for a minute?" I invited getting my backpack and purse out. "I'm tired of not having this out."

I led him inside the house dropping my stuff in the kitchen floor. Juice looked around cautiously before he sat down at the breakfast table watching as I grabbed us each a glass a tea. "Want anything to munch on?" I offered before I sat down.

He shook his head no leaning back on the back legs of the chair studying me. "You want to be with me? Like… more than think I'm hot?" he asked bluntly not wasting time. "I know that's what made you even talk to me the first time. I heard you and Jessica giggling about me."

Juice had never told me he heard us talking about him until now. "Well yeah I have feelings for you. Not just because I think you're hot either." I sipped on my tea drawing pictures in the beads of sweat from the cool glass.

"I don't know if you should though. You know what this is like." Juice sighed patting down his Mohawk his rings glinting in the light. "You know how hectic it gets. Being shot at, always something going down. And you know how bad Clay's going to take this."

I nodded my head tracing the ring of the glass now, looking at anything but him while I spoke. "I know. I know all of this. And you probably shouldn't have feelings for me either. I'm almost 7 years younger than you. it's a big difference. I'm still learning things about life, growing up. But I think this could work." And I did. If we could be open about it.

Juice sighed loudly as he stood up noisily pushing his chair back in at the table. "I don't know. You sure you want to be with me? And only me?"

I looked up at him finally, taking him all in at once. I'd never thought Juice could look so serious. "Yes. Do you want to be with me and only me?" I asked back knowing this would be a bigger deal for him.

"You know the rules of being with a Son?" He asked me leaning on the kitchen counter rubbing his face. "The do's and don'ts?"

"I know the rules. That doesn't mean I like them." There were a few I had a problem with, mainly the ones that let him do what he wanted and me be stuck at home. "Is that a yes then?"

In response he opened his arms showing me to come to him. He embraced me hugging me tightly. "We have to tell everyone. Soon. Sneaking around is childish." Juice whispered into my dark hair. It was a wild mess, showing just how sick I felt. "You're with me now babe."

I leaned into him wrapping my arms around his middle. "And you're with me. No one else."

Juice touched my hair lightly with his fingers then my forehead. "Promise. Now lets get you in bed and I have to get back to the shop before Tig and Bobby come hunting me down."

After he got me settled in my room with more medicine, a glass of water and my TV remote he left. I laid in bed the rest of the day until Jess got home gushing over what our costumes were for the weekend. Mom had agreed to take us over to Luann's studio before Saturday to see if there was anything we could use there. The week dragged on with me sick until Thursday which worked out great since Juice had left the day before on a run with the club and didn't get back until late Friday afternoon. It was easy to simply walk over there after school, no sneaking out and see him until it started to get late.

We were in chapel going over the run details. Mayans had tried hijacking the truck we were protecting for Unser once we were in their territory. No one had gotten hurt too bad but I had a few scrapes and bruises and so did Chibs. We'd been riding at the back of the group so we'd taken the bad side of things.

"We gotta do something man. We can't keep letting them think they're getting one over on us." Tig said his chin resting on his fist propped up on the Reaper table.

Clay nodded in agreement leaned back in his chair at the head of the table. "We have two choices, we attack them on their own turf in surprise, or we wait for another protection run and have back up with the Grim Bastards. Maybe I can call in Hap and a few of his nomads."

Happy was a cool guy. Scary as hell but I liked the Tacoma killer, he was like the murder mentor of the new guys like me. I'd only met a few guys from SAMTAZ, SAMTAC, AND SAMLAS though, since I hadn't branched out too far from Charming yet. The Tucson charter had to be my least favorite group of brothers so far, there was something a little off about them.

"Someone's been pushing drugs in Charming again too. Can't be Darby. He's still in jail." Jax voiced to the left of me, Bobby sat between us.

Chibs nodded rolling a cigarette around on the table. "Aye. Someone's dealing mainly in pharmaceuticals."

"Mayans expanding the coke business?" Bobby asked looking at Clay. "Maybe trying out a different side of the drug scene?"

Clay crossed his hands on his chest thinking on it. "My money's on Alvarez. Let's see what we can dig up on them. Bobby, how's the treasury going?"

Bobby stood up his massive body shaking the table when he used it for support. "Bars stocked up for the party tomorrow night, run fund is covered, bills paid, and now I have a little something for the rest of you." He went to the safe passing us out stacks of bills held together with a rubber band. "Club dues are due on Sunday so feel free to pay up now."

I looked down at my stack of cash. The largest sum of money I'd had since I hacked for the mob a couple of years ago . I pulled a couple bills off and tossed them in front of Bobby. "Paid." I stuffed the rest of the stack inside my cut buttoning it all the way up.

"Don't blow that on some piece of ass." Clay told me smirking. "Might be a couple of weeks before we get back out again."

"Juicy-boy goes for the crow eaters man." Tig laughed standing up and counting his own pile. "Didn't you see him with that gash Trixie the other night?"

I rolled my eyes getting up to leave. No way was I about to stand around and discuss women with them. "I got a girl." I told Tig giving him a hard look. "I'm out unless you guys need me. I got shit to do around the house. The landlords bitching I haven't cut the grass in a month or cleaned the oil off the asphalt."

"Girl eh? Why haven't we saw this 'girl' around?" Bobby laughed elbowing Jax.

I paused at the heavy leather padded doors. "Because she's a good girl." I smirked at them before opening them and heading out.

Aleah was a good girl. I didn't have any worries about her screwing around on me, or lying. She was a pretty straight arrow, I liked that. I didn't want a girl that the entire club had had a go at already, or looked like a straight slut. I did have some standards. I stopped by my bike sending her a message telling her I was back in town and come over, I'd been keeping in touch better now that we were official. I let her know when I left out of town and text her when I could while I was gone. It wasn't because I felt like I had to, it was because I wanted to.

I went home getting there at the same time she did, she was walking up the street right when I pulled in. I grinned "Hey baby." I leaned down to give her a peck while I unlocked the door. "Been an entire day."

Aleah slipped inside after me, shutting the door behind her. She was in a pair of fluffy looking pink pajama bottoms and an oversized sweatshirt that said USMC across it. Her brown hair was pulled up messily, telling me she'd been in bed when I text her. "You miss me?" she asked in a coy voice curling up on the couch.

I tossed her the TV remote moving around the house to turn on a couple lights. "Of course." I shrugged my cut off dropping it on the coffee table then removed the Glock from my waist band, then the knife came off next. She watched me curiously as I unarmed myself right down to taking my boots off and taking another knife out of the side.

"All of that just for a ride up north?" Aleah asked wrinkling her nose at my arsenal. "I thought it was just a small trip."

I unbuckled my belt next pulling it off determined to be comfortable before I laid down with her. "Protection run. Been having a few problems." I didn't want to say much else, some things she didn't need to know yet. "What about you? What have you been doing?"

Aleah grabbed the black fleece throw blanket I had on the back on the couch to cover herself with. "Not much. School, being sick. Found my Halloween costume."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" I asked her grinning as I finally dropped down beside her. I slid my arm around her, pulling her back with me in a laying position. "Pumpkin? Biker?"

Aleah laid her head down on my chest, tracing over the tattoo I had on my left wrist. "Nurse." She said with a wicked smile. "A very attractive nurse. Jess is a little more risqué in hers."

I could only imagine what Jessica would be wearing. The girl was a teenage slut if I'd ever met one. "Where you going all dressed up to?" I hit the volume down on the TV, wanting to talk more than hear it.

"A friends having a Halloween thing. Just a few of us." Aleah answered starting to sit up some. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Hang out with the club. Its Saturday, we're always together." I replied sitting up with her. "What type of get together is this friend having?" I was curious now, wondering what type of party she was going to.

Aleah shrugged a shoulder looking around my half lit house. "Just a small thing. It'll be over early. I go every year. Don't worry, I don't have a date to it." She smiled reassuringly at me. "You go to your party, I'll go to mine. I'm sure yours will be more fun."

Hmmmm…. I thought to myself. She was being a little bit evasive on this party thing. I decided to let it go though, trust had to start somewhere and I really couldn't say much about it since I had my own dirty little secret named Trixie. We hung out until around 1am when she started nodding off on me. I walked her home stopping at the end of the block so no one could see me. "See you in the morning." I told her giving her a slanted kiss leaning down to her.

"Night Carlos." Aleah mumbled kissing me back with just as much passion as I'd forced on her. "See you in a few."

Saturday morning started off slow for me. I slept in for the first time in months, ate my Cap'n crunch while I watched The Jetsons, surfed the 'net , and did some investigative work on Aleah. I didn't find much out about her that I didn't already know. Around 11 I finished cleaning up my yard before I grabbed a shower to head out to the clubhouse. The phone hadn't rang yet but I knew I needed to get over there just in case anything went down.

I rode in slow, looking to see who was there. Looked like everyone so far. I started backing my Dyna in, Chibs walked over pushing on it helping me. One thing that sucked about being a biker was no reverse. "Where ye been all day Juicy Boy?" Chibs asked lighting up while I took my helmet and sunglasses off.

"Had some shit to do. Bank, yard work, grooming. The usual." I told him digging out my own pack of cigarettes. "What's happening around here?"

Chibs nodded over to the picnic table Jax was at, looking like he was in a bad mood with Bobby beside him. "Jax's Old Lady picked up a few things off the drug dealer last night."

"Oh shit. So I guess we're handling it then?" I gave Tig a small wave across the lot when he looked our way.

"Not sure. Clay just got here." Chibs clapped me on the back. "Come on."

I followed him over to the clubhouse with the rest of the guys. "Wendy ok?" I asked Jax knowing sometimes she took things a little far.

"Yeah. She's fine. Packing for rehab." He gave me a look.

As the youngest two guys we kind of stuck together with Opie being gone. "Anything I can do?" I asked as we all went into chapel.

"Nope."

I took my seat at the end of the table listening in on the briefing until it was my turn to vote. "Yay." I spoke earning approving nods from the other guys.

"Its settled then. We take care of this before anyone else can get hurt." Clay banged the gavel down. "We'll do some major work today, try to figure out who we're going after."

We dispersed from chapel going off in different directions. I headed for the shop knowing that's where Aleah was at. I was about 6 feet away when I saw the teenage boys standing around outside the door.

"So you'll be there?" The taller, skinny, one asked Aleah who was standing outside with them.

I stopped lighting up a cigarette even though I didn't really want one, listening to the conversation. Aleah pushed her hair back smiling at the boys. "Yeah. Probably not until around 7 or 8 though. I don't get off until 3 from here then I have to get Jess."

"Cool. Well uh.. Look for me when you get there all right?" The shorter one told her grinning.

I felt a surge of jealousy rise through my chest. I knew there wasn't a damn thing I could say or do right now. Too many eyes around and they were kids. I waited for her to say bye to the boys before I walked past her into the office. "Those your friends?"

Aleah pursed her lips, looking like she wasn't sure how to answer me. I plopped myself down in the desk chair, eyeing her. "Those your friends having the small party?" I tried again.

She nodded starting to pick up papers from around the desk piling them up. "I told you that last night."

"You didn't mention it was a bunch of guys." I pointed out to her. I swirled around side to side in the rolling chair still looking at her. She looked good today. Black jeans and a silver top that was shiny and cut low. "Its cool. I mean, there'll be crow eaters and sweet butts around here too. Not like we can't hang out with the opposite sex."

That was probably mean of me to throw in there, but if she was playing games so was I. "If I didn't know better I'd think someone was jealous." Aleah smirked at me.

I knew I couldn't stay upset with her. I didn't have it in me. "I'm not jealous. Just making an observation." I defended myself. "You busy in here?" I looked out at the open door that led to the shop. The guys were busy working, a few cars lined up in the customer area.

"A little. They've been slammed and still have repos to go get." She caught my eyes. "Why? What's on your mind?"

I stood up feeling brave for some reason today. I was going to chalk it up to smoking two joints alone before I left the house, then taking my Adderall on schedule for once. "Come on. They won't miss you for a few minutes."

"Where are we going?" She asked me as I paused just outside the door. "We can't go together."

"I know that. Meet me in my room. Third door on the right. If anyone sees you say you need me because the computer froze up or something." I gave her my sexy grin knowing she'd go for it as soon as I did. "Come on."

I walked across the parking lot back to the clubhouse nodding to a couple of the guys on my way in. I went to the room I used when I slept over, no one really had assigned rooms but we all had one we preferred. This one I liked because it was dead at the end of the hallway and had no windows. I sat down on the corner of the bed trying to wait at patiently as I could. It'd been a few days since we did anything and I wanted it pretty bad.

The door finally opened, Aleah slid in shutting it quickly behind her. I hopped up pushing her back against it, locking it. I knew this had to be fast meaning no foreplay for me. "Be quiet ok?" I whispered to her before starting in on her neck.

She nodded shutting her eyes when I sucked on the curve of her neck knowing that was the spot that did it for her. Her arms wrapped around me so she could press herself against my chest. I pushed my hips on hers earning a soft sigh from her perfect mouth. A mouth that I loved the feel of on every inch of my body. I pushed her bra up grabbing at her breasts moving from her neck to bite and suck on each nipple. I knew just what to do to get her ready for me.

I unbuttoned her jeans and started to tug them down her hips roughly still teasing her with kisses. I jerked the tiny, flimsy looking white lace panties down next before shoving two fingers into her. "Oh!" she gasped sharply not expecting it. Her body turned into putty for me, making my man ego boost instantly.

I pumped into her slickness a few times before pulling my fingers out to undo my own jeans. I unbuckled the belt I always wore then pushed my jeans down to my ankles before I picked her up easily. I was two seconds away from pushing into her before she opened her eyes . "Do you have a condom?" She whispered her face flushed.

"No. I'll pull out." I whispered back feeling like I was in agony. I was so hard I knew it wouldn't take much for me to explode.

Aleah squirmed her legs were still wrapped around my waist only inches of air keeping us apart. "Is it…. Safe?" She asked her cheeks turning even redder. "I mean…. are you…?"

It would have killed the mood for most guys to be asked if they had some kind of std wrong with them but I fought back a laugh. "Yes. I'm clean. I always wrap up. Except for right now. I want you pretty damn bad." I whispered back knowing if this didn't work out I'd end up having to take care of this on my own before I went back out. The guys would have a field day seeing me with a raging hard on. "Its been in your mouth before." I threw that out there to make a point. She'd given me head a few times and never stopped to ask if it was safe.

We looked in each others eyes for a split second before she nodded, she wasn't even finished when I shoved into her. Aleah turned her face burying it in the crook of my neck while I stroked into her hard, I could feel her fingers digging into my shoulders breaking the skin. God, she felt amazing. She gripped me in a way no one else did, so tight I could feel her muscles pulsing against me. The sounds coming from the back of her throat were muffled, she usually got loud if we were alone.

"J..J…J.." Aleah gasped out as I moved my hips in a circle

Not being able to take it anymore I held her smaller frame against the door not letting her move while I pounded away. "Shit." I hissed feeling her body start to go rigid and clamp down around me bringing my own release. "Are you on the pill?" I asked softly still inside of her, going limp.

She shook her head no putting her legs down slowly. "No. I never needed to be."

I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and tossed it at her looking away while she fixed herself to go back out. I buckled my own pants hoping I didn't smell like straight sex. "I'll go out first." I told her kissing her hard. "If it'll make you feel better I'll go get tested Monday."

Aleah smiled touching my cheek before nodding. "I'll see you in a few."

I went back out, closing the door pretending to be standing in the hallway on the phone for a couple of minutes for show before I went back outside. I hung around with the guys smoking, bull shitting, and killing time until Clay was ready to go. Aleah made it back to the office without anyone saying anything or paying much attention. When Clay finally came out from the chapel with a lead on our guy I poked my head in to tell her bye.

"I have to go. Have business to take care of. Send me a picture of your outfit." I wanted like hell to kiss her but I didn't dare to. The non club mechanics were out in the shop with Lowell and I didn't think they'd say anything to anyone but I didn't want to chance it either. "Later baby."

"Later." She echoed me giving me a look that told me she wanted me to kiss her too. "Don't have too much fun."

"Always do." I headed off to the row of bikes where the guys were gathered, planning out who was going where.

Clay pointed at me. "You with me, Tig, Bobby, you too. Chibs and Jax go meet up with LaRoy for our normal meeting."

I had no idea where we were going exactly. I just knew it was towards Lodi because of the direction we took. Clay led, we followed the way it was supposed to go. We pulled up to a hole in the wall bar called the Horse Head.

"Watch the door." Clay told me walking on in with the other two guys. "No one gets in or out. Shoot them."

I nodded standing in the doorway looking out at the street. I could hear the guys causing some kind of havoc inside. I had the easy job for now.

The party was completely on when Jessica's mom dropped us off . People were everywhere dressed from a cow to a cowboy. I had on a sexy nurse costume, the tiny tight white fitting dress was showing way more than I was used to. I had on a pair of matching white stripper shoes that I'd borrowed from Wendy, a ton of make up that Luann had helped put on, and a matching white nurses cap and stethoscope around my neck. I was hot.

Jess, had went a completely different route and borrowed a dark red saloon girl outfit from Luann's studio complete with fishnets, stilettos, and a huge feather on her head. "Oh my god, look at this place." Jess said starting to move with the loud hip hop music that was being blasted.

I was looking around nodding and waving to people from school. "Heyyyy….. Nice dress." Elijah said coming up behind me with two red plastic cups in each hand. "Jess… wow.."

We each gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. "Looks like a total rager tonight." I laughed watching everyone dancing in a blob together.

"Hell yeah it is. Partying til we all drop" He shook his longish hair out of his eyes. "Want a drink or something?" He held out one of the cups to me.

I peered in it first before taking it. "What is it?" I asked before I took a sip that I spit back out.

I could hear him and Jess cracking up. "Its jungle juice" Elijah answered laughing. "Come on, down it and lets dance."

Frowning some I started chugging down the drink deciding to live a little. I didn't usually binge drink but there was always a time to start. I turned the empty cup upside down getting cheers from the people around us. "Come on!" Jess shouted over the music grabbing my hand.

I followed her into the crowd bumping and grinding to the beat with her. Not long after Elijah and Dennis were behind us dancing too. The lights had went dark with strobes flashing every now and then. "Here!" Elijah's voice yelled over the music. I felt him put something in my and. "Try this!"

I couldn't even see what type of pills he'd just handed me. "What is it?!" I shouted back as he handed me his drink.

"Oxy and an adder all !"

I'd heard of both of those. I had no idea if I should take them at the same time though. I popped them in my mouth swallowing them down with what tasted like kool aid vodka. I danced on for a while , me and Jess were earning a few cheers when we'd rub up on each other. After a while I lost count of how many drinks I had. Or where Jessica was at.

I was leaned over the pool table, lining up a shot when Jax held a hand up for me to stop. We'd been playing each other on teams with a couple of crow eaters for fun. "Whoa whoa whoa…. Slow down." He spoke to whoever it was that had just called him. "I can barely hear you."

I set the pool stick down frowning at him. His eyes met mine while he listened. "What do you mean she's throwing up? What the fuck did you two do? Where are you?"

Chibs wandered over beer in hand mouthing to me "Everything ok?"

Jax sighed loudly into the phone. "Take her outside. Don't move from that spot. We're on our way." He slammed the phone shut. "Come on. My little sister and her friend are at some party trashed, said someone must have spiked their drinks."

I felt my heart jump in my chest when he said that. I grabbed my cut following right behind him. "Juice, drive the van." Jax ordered climbing on his bike, Chibs on his. I got in staying close behind them my thoughts running wild. I knew I shouldn't have let her go to a house party alone. I should've told the guys I had stuff to do and just stayed in with Aleah. I held a tight grip on the steering wheel until I saw the house the party was at.

It was loud, crawling with drunken teenagers, and had my girl hunched over on the lawn puking with her best friend holding her hair back. "Shit." I muttered getting out slamming the door behind me.

"What the fuck happened here?" Jax exploded as soon as he got close to the girls.

Aleah stood up then, her already short costume riding up even more. "Damn." I whispered seeing her and Jessica both in the light for the first time. Slutty was one way to describe them, hot was another, but pissed was the look I got from Jax when he heard me.

Chibs was staring too, but he had a completely different reaction than mine. "Girls…. What are ye wearing?" He asked looking embarrassed.

"Who gave her the pills?" Jax demanded talking to Jessica.

She crossed her arms shaking her head. "I don't know. I think it was in her drink."

"Sons are crashing the party down!" I heard a guy call out to his friends, everyone starting to notice us.

"Ye damn right we are! Get yer asses home!" Chibs yelled to them.

Aleah leaned back down coughing as she threw up again. I instantly went to her, supporting her while Jax interrogated Jessica some more. "I told her to call Wendy. Or Gemma." she moaned letting my hold her up.

She must have known she was in for it with Jax if she was desperate enough to call Wendy. "Come on. I'll get you in the van." I lifted her up carrying her to back hoping like hell she didn't puke in it. I'd be the one cleaning it out.

"Get in the van. We're not through." Jax snapped at Jessica giving her a look that could kill. I'd never saw him get this type of pissed. It gave me a idea of what he'd do if you fucked with his sister.

I followed behind them not sure where we were going until Jax turned onto the street Clay's house was on. "Fuck me." I sighed not wanting to be in the middle of this. "You drunk too?" I asked Jessica glancing at her out of the corner of my eyes.

"Do I look fucking drunk to you?" She snapped back her arms crossed over herself.

I felt livid when she talked to me like that. As a general rule, I respected all women unlike most of the guys in the club. But I did admit there were sometimes when I really hated my mom for raising me to have some shred of morals. "No you look like a fucking slut." I replied back coolly.

Aleah groaned in the back, she was slumped over looking like she was ready to pass out as soon as we got her home. "You guys stop."

I looked at her in the rearview mirror. "What really happened to you two? I know you're lying." If Jess wouldn't tell me I knew Aleah would once we were alone then I'd hunt down whatever bitch drugged her.

"I told you. Someone must have slipped something in her drink. She was drinking pretty heavy." Jessica pulled the feather from her head as she spoke giving me a shitty look. "Really."

I rolled my eyes at her pulling into the driveway finally, glad to be getting away from her. "Come on. I'll help you." I told Aleah opening the back door.

She inched towards me letting me pick her up again. "I got her." I told Chibs when he moved to take her from me. "Who's telling Clay and Gemma?"

"Not me boyo. Her dads going to have someone's head on a reaper pole for this." Chibs eyed Jessica suspiciously. "Especially if someone is lying about what really happened."

Jax flung open the door to the house letting us all in. "Mom! Clay get out here!" He yelled out pacing back and forth. They'd left the clubhouse a hour earlier when the party started to die down.

Gemma came out first pulling a black silk robe on. "What the hell happened to them?" She asked hurrying over when she spotted Aleah in my arms. "Baby what's wrong?" She pushed Aleah's hair back.

Clay appeared then, we'd obviously interrupted something from the way he was dressed. "Jax, what the fuck…." He darted towards Aleah.

"Someone slipped something in her drink. Her many alcoholic drinks." Jax snapped accusingly. "Then when she got sick, this bimbo decided to call me to come get them."

Jessica had been standing back, out of the line of fire. "I didn't know who else to call. Gemma didn't answer when I tried her. Neither did Wendy."

"Wendy's gone." Jax threw her a dirty look. "And why are they out dressed like sluts?"

Gemma gave Jax the dirty look this time. "I actually helped them get dressed. I thought they looked great."

"To hell they did. What the fuck were YOU thinking letting my daughter leave like this?" Clay burst out to Gemma, the first time I'd saw them angry with each other. "Can't I trust you to make sure she doesn't end up like her mother?"

"They say they don't know where the drugs came from. Someone had them though." Chibs cut in trying to turn the conversation around. "We've got to do something about this Clay."

Aleah flinched in my arms, her face pale. "I just want to go to bed."

I looked at Gemma for approval before I carried her off to her room with Jessica on my heels. "Help her take that shit off." I told her in a cold tone before going back out to the kitchen.

When I reentered Clay was getting ready to go after the Mayans , end this thing. "I knew we should have done something else earlier. If they're selling to the kids in our neighborhood we have a huge problem." Jax said smoking a cigarette still looking livid.

Clay came back out dressed and sliding his gun in its holster. "I'll be back." He told Gemma giving her a hard look. "Try not to do anything to the kids that'll piss me off even more before I get back."

He opened the door heading out, I paused giving Gemma a helpless shrug before following him out. I wanted to stay so bad and make sure Aleah was ok but I wanted to beat the shit out of whoever did this to her more.

**Slowish chapter I know, but I needed a few things to happen. Be prepared, the crazy train takes off next chap :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I loved the reviews so much from yesterday I decided to post another chapter a couple of days early! I won't spoil it for anymore but was it just me or was last nights episode a little…. Gory? Geez. **

**Always thanks goes to Jessica1018 for her help and contribuitions to the fic. I wouldn't have gotten this far with it if it wasn't for her. And just to remind you guys, "Hands all over" by LoveInk, "Make me right" by Laughingwarrior, and "GEts in your blood" by Bad company are very amazing Juice stories if you're looking for a Juice fix. **

**This chapter is titled Letdown after the song by This Providence. **

Chapter 8 Letdown

The past three weeks were hell. I spent a lot of time at home alone, Dad had decided maybe it was time for Jess to spend some time at her house since he couldn't trust us together. I didn't really see what the big deal was about. Everyone but Juice thought the pills had been slipped in my drink.

I'd walked over to his house when he told me he was on his way there, the club had a big run to Tacoma for something. If Juice didn't offer details, I didn't usually ask. From working at the garage and being at home I picked up things here and there anyways. It'd taken me a week to finally figure what happened to the guy that was selling the drugs in Charming. It was the same guy that had filed the charges on Juice and he'd suddenly disappeared from town the week after the party.

I dug through the overgrown bushes in front of his house until I found the key he'd told me was hidden there. I went in smiling when I saw he'd left his x-box on with what looked like Call of Duty paused on the TV screen. _He is such a dork _I thought to myself picking up a plate and glass he left sitting on the coffee table. He didn't usually eat in the living room if he was home alone, he had a thing about crumbs which shocked me from the way his house looked the first time I came over.

I heard the low rumble of Juice's bike when he got down the street, getting louder when he pulled in. Seconds later the door opened. Juice bounded in looking like a hyper puppy with a huge grin on his face.

"God I missed you." He grabbed me into a tight hug. "I thought you'd be able to get away since Clay was with me." Juice pushed his mouth on mine kissing me deeply before releasing me from his grip.

"Its only been two days." I giggled kissing his cheek, I stopped when I noticed something on his clothes. "Juice, you're bleeding!" I exclaimed starting to claw at his grey shirt to pull it up.

Juice shoved my hands away shaking his head . "Not my blood." He met my eyes giving me a hard look before walking down the short hallway to his room. "I'm gonna grab a shower real quick."

I trailed after him on the light colored carpet sitting on the edge of his bed watching while he dug out clean clothes. "Do I even want to know?" I asked quietly picking at a loose thread on the dark comforter.

"No you really don't."

Juice tossed the clothes on the bed beside me. "I'll be out in a few." He told me stripping down as he walked into the bathroom.

I slid off of the bed as quietly as I could, watching him from the doorway slide his jeans down his hips showing me the V of his body, then his shirt. He glanced at me before he stepped into the glass door sliding it behind him letting steam roll out from the hot water. I watched his blurry shape through the door for a minute or two before I pushed my own jeans off then pulled my AC/DC band shirt off, unhooking my bra.

I pushed the glass door open inviting myself in with him. Juice turned around his brown eyes roaming hungrily over my naked body. "Let me." I told him taking his body wash and the loofah he was using on himself. "Your body's really tense." I lathered him up gently, taking my time.

Juice nodded placing his hands on my hips moving me closer into the water with him. "Been a rough couple of months." He took the loofah back from me tossing it on the floor of the shower. "I could use some stress relief." He hinted pulling me against him.

This had to be the most intimate act I'd ever done. Showering with Juice like this was so…. open. "What kind of stress relief?" I kissed his chest, the water coming down on my face as I went lower and lower kissing down him. "Something like this?"

We stayed in the shower until long after the water started to run cold. Finally when I couldn't hold onto him anymore we came out, Juice wrapping me up a towel. "I'll get you a shirt." he offered wrapping his own white towel around his waist.

I grabbed my own clothes off of the bathroom floor fighting back a grin at the mess we'd made. Water was all over the floor in front of the shower, the bathmat in front of it was nowhere close to soaking it all up. "I can't stay."

Juice stopped digging through the top drawer of his dresser. "Its late. Can't you just tell them you're at a friends or something?" He turned to face me giving me a pointed look. "Or at your boyfriends?"

Juice had been on my case about us telling everyone. He didn't want to keep a secret anymore, which I understood ,it'd make things way easier if we came out. That didn't mean it was easy to tell my dad I was sneaking around behind his back. "I can't. Not tonight anyways."

"When then?" He grabbed his boxers, starting to get dressed. He pulled on a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms leaving his chest bare. "We have to. I have too much shit going on without us sneaking around like this."

I started blotting my hair dry with the towel avoiding looking back at him again. "This weekend. After Thanksgiving is over. I don't want to ruin that for Mom by us pissing Dad off."

"I don't know if I'll be over or not. I might have a job to do with a couple of other guys." Juice grabbed his cigarettes, pausing to light up. "Come on, I'll get us something to eat."

I checked the time on the digital clock on his stove when we walked into the kitchen. It was getting late. "That's good with me." I pointed at the frozen pizza he held up. "No gourmet meal tonight huh?"

Juice smirked at me throwing the plastic pizza wrapper in my face as he moved around the kitchen turning the oven on and getting a pan out. "Only on nights I don't feel so stiff I can barely move."

I pushed myself on top on the counter, swinging my legs back and forth. My dark hair was hanging in wet clumps around my face. "Guess I shouldn't have joined you in the shower."

Juice picked his cut up pulling a small roll of bills out of one side that he tossed on the table, then dug in the other small pocket until he found the small white pills he'd been looking for. "I know, you took advantage of me." He winked getting a beer out of the fridge then downing two of the pills. "Tig said these would help."

I snorted loudly. There was no telling what Tig had just given him to take. "And you trust him?"

"Yeah sure. Can't be too bad." Juice shrugged he held the others out to me. "You need some relaxation from your double life?"

I looked at his hand for a split second before I plucked two pills from him. "Why not?" I held my other hand out for his beer. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Juice watched me in amazement as I downed them quickly before I could change my mind. I was feeling pretty anxious lately. I was graduating in December, then starting college in January and had no idea how I would pay for it. The stress from that plus seeing Juice was starting to add up. I'd had more than one sleepless night.

We hung out a while longer eating pizza while Juice did some club stuff on his laptop. He typed like a madman then scribbled things down. I channel surfed while he worked putting Kill Bill on. I didn't even realize I fell asleep leaning on his shoulder until a pounding woke up both of us. I jolted up right panicking. Juice was snoring loudly, slunk over the arm of the couch his laptop had fallen on the floor forgotten.

"Juice!" I hissed shaking him. "Someone's knocking."

Juice sat up straight glancing at me then the door. "Go to my room, shut the door." He whispered before saying in a louder voice. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

I grabbed my clothes from the floor in the hallway hurrying up. My heart was pounding through my chest. I couldn't believe we'd been so stupid to fall asleep together. It was 8am for Christ's sake. I cowered behind the closed bedroom door trying to listen and see who was there.

"She didn't come home last night, I know she's here Juice." Gemma's voice came through the door.

"She's not here." Juice replied sounding like he was out of it. "I've been asleep on the couch the whole night. Maybe try her friends house."

"I know you know where she is dammit. Just tell me before Clay finds her over here." Mom snapped, it sounded like she'd just forced the door open and was inside his living room.

"I haven't saw her in a couple of days Gemma. Truth."

Mom snorted knowing he was still lying to her. "If I find out you're lying to me, I'll have Tig cut your little dick off hear me Juan?"

"Loud and clear." He sounded irritated talking to her. Considering the time, he was probably pissed.

"What are you? Fuckin high Juice? Jesus…Call me if you hear from her."

I heard them walk back across the floor, the door open back up. "Will do." He said before slamming the door shut.

I went back into the living room as soon as I heard her car leave. "Shit Juice… " I felt a little out of it still.

Juice sank back down into the couch laying back over the arm rest. "I know. I feel like shit lying to her face like that."

I curled up next to him, shutting my eyes as my head spun around. "I don't feel so great." I tucked my chin into his bare chest where his tattoo was.

Juice rubbed my arm in a up and down motion comforting me. "Go back to sleep. They'll be pissed no matter what time you show up. At least if you go back to bed you won't still be high as fuck."

Pissed was an understatement when I did finally wake up and go home. My phone was long dead so I had no idea how many times they'd called or text me. It was late afternoon when we'd got up, still on the couch together. I'd hoped I could sneak in quietly or that maybe Dad was at the clubhouse. No such luck.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" Dad's voice boomed the second I stepped inside the house.

I tried to slip past him while I talked. "I fell asleep at a friends house, phones dead too. I didn't realize it was so late. I'm sorry." I spotted Gemma sitting on the beige couch looking smug and worried at the same time.

Dad was fuming. I couldn't remember the last time I'd saw him like this. "A friends huh? You thought it was a good idea to stay out all night fucking and to hell with telling anyone where you were?"

The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. "No that's your job Dad."

I felt his hand across my cheek slapping me harder than he'd ever done in my entire life. I stumbled grabbing onto the entrance table to keep from falling. "Don't. Touch. Me." I managed to say tears starting to fall down my stinging cheek.

"Clay! Shit…." Gemma was at my side in an instant. "She's a teenage girl for Christ's sake!"

"Exactly! A teenage girl that lives under my roof, a roof that she's been sneaking out of, lying in, and now disrespecting me!" Dad shouted.

"You were never like this with Jax!" I yelled back "He did whatever the hell he felt like!"

"Jax couldn't get knocked up!" Dad snapped back furious.

Mom touched my cheek, her hand felt cool on my face. "Go to your room. Don't leave." She whispered.

I nodded taking off down the hall quickly, they were in a full swing argument now.

Juice's POV

It was Thanksgiving and I was spending my day being thankful I hadn't been shot yet. Clay had sent me, Chibs, and a couple of Nomads to Rogue River to help them shut down a backwoods meth problem. These guys just weren't willing to give up yet though. We'd been to site after site and either gotten shot up so bad we had to leave or they'd moved.

Rogue River itself sucked. It was extremely rural, a lot of wooded areas and I had a million bug bites. And I was pretty damn sure I had poison ivy on my neck too. We'd just gotten back to the Rogue River clubhouse a bit ago to regroup and replan.

"My Old Lady brought you guys some plates." Snake told us nodding at the plastic containers on one of the tables.

I wished like hell I was at Gemma's for Thanksgiving dinner, not a filthy ass clubhouse. "Thanks man." I was heading to one of the three dorm rooms, I'd taken claim on one. "I need a shower." I was filthy. I had mud caked into my clothes, dried blood from other guys, and my dick was raw from sweating so much.

"Juice, hold up. Got a special job for you." Another guy called after me. Gravy was his name. I had no idea why he was called that. He was a huge guy, reminded me of Opie in a way only a lot rougher and he was graying.

"Yeah? What's up man?" I paused hoping it wasn't anything that involved me getting back in the woods. Growing up in New York meant I was more of a concrete kinda guy.

Snake motioned for me to come back to the bar. I lit a cigarette striding towards him. He was another strange guy. He had a shit ton of snake tats on his body, a shaved head, and hardly any teeth. He was the VP in the Rogue River chapter. I sat down on one of the stools flicking ashes into the ashtray he shoved at me.

Gravy came over sitting down beside me offering me a hit off his joint. "We heard you're real good with computers and shit."

"Yeah, I hack a little here and there." I smirked holding up a hand to show him no thanks on the joint. I couldn't get fried while I was working I hadn't even popped my adder all for the day yet. "You guys having some problems?"

After talking it over for a few minutes I was being sent back out with a couple of the Tacoma guys to cover me. They needed us to break into a house, disable the surveillance that they had to have on all of the meth sites and get the locations.

"Be careful Juicy Boy." Chibs told me his eyes sweeping over the SAMTAC guys that were going out with me. "Watch yourself out there."

I knew exactly what he meant. I didn't know any of these guys that well. A brother was supposed to be a brother no matter what charter but I had my doubts on some of these guys. Kozik was the only one I recognized riding out with me and he seemed in a completely different world than the rest of us. We left our bikes sitting on the street corner and took off creeping around the house from all different angles.

"Boost me up." I hissed to Kozik who went with me on the right side of the building. I stepped into his hands leaning my body against the side of the house. I reached into my pocket to grab my flashlight then used it to smash the window open. Kozik lifted me up higher until I could slip inside.

I could hear the others moving around the house shouting clear to each other. "In here Juice!" Donut yelled. I took off following the sound of his voice my piece held out in front of me. I kicked the door open to the room he'd broken into. It was our surveillance room. I went to work writing things down before I started ripping cables apart. I was trying to hurry knowing the meth cooks could be back at any time.

"They're here!" Someone shouted. I heard tires squealing then gun shots rang out. I grabbed my Glock and took off back to the room I'd broken into to jump back out the window where Kozik was supposed to wait.

"Shit! Kozik! C'mon !" I yelled not seeing him anywhere in sight. Just then a group of men stormed the room. I jumped not even thinking twice about it. "Fuck." I moaned feeling the shooting pain run through my leg. I couldn't waste the time to make sure it was ok, I was up and running in a split second. I managed to get on my bike and take off with the rest of the guys. The pain was blinding me until I finally couldn't focus to grip anymore.

I woke up in a hospital bed, blinking a few times to focus, before I tried to sit up. A hand pushed my bare chest back down gently. "Lay still Juicy Boy. You banged yerself up pretty bad." Chibs accented voice told me before his face came into view.

"Fuck…." I groaned feeling the soreness in my left leg. My entire body was sore though. "What the fuck happened out there?"

Chibs nodded to the nurse that was pressing a bandage down on my chest now. "Give us a minute yeah?" He waited until she'd left the room to continue talking. "You went down. Hard. Your bike bailed out on the shoulder of the overpass."

I remembered it then. Hitting the asphalt. "Kozik bailed on me man. That bastard was supposed to help me back out the window. He was gone, I had to jump."

"Ye just got roughed up. Banged that hard head on the barrier. Happy's supposed to get ye back to Charming. Your leg's a little worse off. No break though."

I shut my eyes sighing heavily. "What about the labs?" I asked next hoping we'd at least finished that job.

"We're still handing it. I'll meet you back in town in a couple of days. Clay said the Mayans were stirring up more shit there anyways. Could use you back. They jumped a couple of the mechanics."

The nurse came back through the room, giving Chibs a look. "I need to finish patching him up if you don't mind."

After she'd bandaged me I drifted off, my body was killing me. I hadn't even asked what happened to my bike. I knew it was probably a wreck if Chibs hadn't arranged for the tow truck to drag it back home for me. Road burn, sprained right leg, bruises ribs, and a good sized knot on my head from hitting the barrier with it.

The ride back with Happy was a silent one, he came for me the next morning looking annoyed to be there. He didn't even turn the radio on. The only time he spoke was when he asked me if I needed to piss or eat. I wanted to call Aleah, I hadn't heard from since she left my house a few days ago after she'd fallen asleep there. But my burner had gotten lost when I wrecked and there was no way I was asking Happy to stop me to buy a new phone.

Once Happy dropped me off at my house I didn't know what to do. I laid on the couch for a while but it wasn't comfortable. My leg was in a brace, I had cuts and road burn keeping me from moving around good. I needed help. I hobbled down the hallway to my room taking baby steps and holding onto the wall for help before sinking in my desk chair thinking. I didn't have any friends that weren't in the club. I couldn't ask them to come help me around the house in case Aleah showed up over here anyways.

I thought for a while before bringing up my computer screen , an idea forming in my mind. I found who I was looking for and sure enough, the phone number was posted on Facebook. I rolled the chair across the floor to my landline dialing before I could change my mind. I was hungry as hell and I knew I couldn't stand up long enough to cook. The line rang a few times, I was about to hang up when it picked up.

"Hello?" Her voice came across. "Who is this?"

I coughed before replying. "Its… me. Juice. I was wondering if you wanted to make some cash today. Maybe tomorrow too?"

"Yeah sure. Do you need me now?"

I silently laughed to myself. I needed her here waiting when I got here. "Yeah. I'm at home. The doors unlocked just let yourself in. I'm not moving so great. See you in a few."

I rolled myself back down the hallway taking it slow. The chair was hard to push on the carpet but it was easier than walking. I rolled into the kitchen opening the fridge up looking around at what I had inside. Not much. I was trying to reach a glass for some milk when I heard the front door open. "I'm in here!" I called out to her.

Jessica rounded the corner smirking at my appearance. She had on old, faded jeans, and a plaid flannel long sleeve shirt. "Need some help?" she asked raising an eyebrow at me. She reached around me grabbing the glass. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I wrecked my bike. Hit my head." I explained sheepishly. I'd only went down 4 times in my entire life counting this but it took major biker points from you when you did. "Thanks for coming."

"No problemo. I could always use cash. I'm guessing you need a nurse?" She grinned at me pulling her blonde hair back. "Does Aleah know you called me?"

I snorted taking the glass of milk back from her taking a small sip from it. "Hell no. I haven't heard from her in a few days. Think she's in trouble."

Jessica nodded her head starting to unload my dishwasher while we talked. "Yeah she is. Clay was pissed when she didn't come home. Took her cell away, grounded her. Its ridiculous. She'll be 18 in a month."

We chatted for a while making small talk, she cackled at the sight of my improvised wheelchair. I got her to help me get in the recliner with a pillow behind my head before she started picking up the place. Jessica wasn't on my list of favorite people but I couldn't afford to be picky right now. She wasn't being too bad today anyways, her slutty appearance and attitude seemed to be under control.

"You hungry?" I asked her watching as she dusted the living room. "Think I might order something." Chinese sounded great. I knew I couldn't walk to the store and back for anything else. I didn't even know what happened to my only mode of transportation.

Jessica nodded bringing me the take out menu that was stuck to my fridge. She pointed out what she wanted before I ordered for us requesting delivery. I laid in the chair for a few minutes before asking her if she could turn the shower on for me. Jessica laughed giving me a wink as she went to do it. "Need some help washing your back?" she joked.

I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't fuck the girl with someone else's dick. I waited for her to turn it on and get a towel out for me before I crept into the bathroom. Unrolling my bandages took forever, mainly the leg one. Chibs told me it was just a bad sprain but it hurt like a motherfucker. I showered slowly letting the hot water soothe me. The sponge bath yesterday in Rogue River had made me feel sweaty and disgusting.

I was stepping out wrapping the towel around my waist when I heard someone knock on the door. "You can get it!" I yelled to her. I wasn't too worried about the guys saying much over her being here if it was any of them.

"Oh hey, I thought you were the food." Jessica told whoever it was. "We didn't know you were coming over."

I paused at the sink using a few q-tips on my ears. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I heard Aleah's voice snarl. "Where's Juice?"

I froze. I knew exactly what this was looking like to her. "He's getting dressed." Jessica told her calmly not snapping back at her. "He's in the bathroom."

"Get the hell out of here. Stupid whore." Aleah snapped at her surprising me. I didn't think she was the type to cuss and argue.

I opened the bathroom door hobbling out as quickly as I could. "Hey, wait. She's here helping me" I explained walking in. Aleah was standing in m living room looking like she wanted to snap me in two. "I needed someone to-"

"To what? Shower with you?" She said through clenched teeth. "I wasn't aware you two were fuck friends."

"I'm gonna go." Jessica spoke up grabbing her keys off of the coffee table. "Pay me next time."

I held a hand up to her. "No Aleah can calm her ass down. I wasn't fucking her Lee." I tried again to explain, the pounding was starting to come back in my head. "I don't think I'm up to fucking anyone right now."

Aleah spoke with venom in her voice, her blue eyes looked like steel when she got angry I noticed. "No I will not calm down! She has no business being in your house without me here! And don't talk to me like that!"

"Why? Scared I might have something your boyfriend wants?" Jessica replied starting to turn red in the face.

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew. No. I don't even think she's hot like that!" I cut in disgusted at the idea of it.

Jessica looked at me angrily this time. "Ew? So I'm ugly AND a whore? Screw both of you!" She shouted before shoving between us on her way out the door nearly knocking over the takeout guy.

Aleah glared at me before she took a step closer, poking me hard in the road burn on my chest. "Let me know when its safe come over and talk without walking in on you and one of your fucks!"

I moved to grab her arm but she was too fast, storming out the door. The stunned delivery man stood back looking between us in awe. "Here." I growled grabbing my wallet and shoving a few bills at him. "Keep the change." I slammed the door in his face after snatching my bag from his hands.

If Aleah thought I'd run after her she was dead wrong. As a general rule I didn't chase after women. I wasn't going to make an exception in her case either.

Aleah's POV

I wasn't sure who to be more pissed at. Juice or Jessica. I'd cried the entire walk back to my house. I felt betrayed by my best friend. She should have known it wasn't okay to be at Juice's house like that. You didn't go to guys houses to 'help' them with stuff. Especially not guys that looked like Juice.

I was pissed with Gemma and Clay too. Dad took my phone after we argued, told me I was grounded, and that I needed to straighten up. It was like he didn't realize I was 18 in a month and graduating. Jax was the only ally I had for once, and I couldn't even trust him. He'd rat me out in a heartbeat. His junky was due back in a couple of weeks from her latest 30 day treatment, he claimed he was serving her divorce papers but I'd believe it when I saw it happen. I slammed the door behind me crawling into the cool sheets for a good cry.

Juice had hit a real sore spot in me inviting Jess over to help him around. I was going over to help him around. I'd heard Mom and Dad talking about him taking a fall and that he was back at home, banged up pretty bad. I knew he didn't have anyone else to check in on him so I'd went over first chance I had. Then she opened the door. Juice could say what he wanted, I knew he had to be attracted to her. Every guy was.

Jess was prettier than me. Slimmer than me. And more experienced than me. It made perfect sense why Juice would want her. Plus the way he'd talked to me had me pissed. I'd heard plenty of the guys yell at their Old Ladies, girlfriends, or whatever girl they'd picked up for the night, I didn't think Juice would be the same way. I laid there crying some more, my chest hurting from being so upset.

The door opened letting light flood into the room Mom stepped in turning the light on. "Aleah, get up. C'mon baby."

I sat up rubbing my swollen eyes tiredly. "What's wrong?" I asked her noticing she looked upset. "Is Dad ok?"

She nodded sitting down on the bed beside me, placing a hand over mine while she talked. "Jax went to go check on Juice, make sure somebody had looked in on him, and drop his bike back off to him." She paused squeezing my hand a little. "He found Jessica up the street. Someone beat the shit out of her and left her behind some flower bushes."

I inhaled sharply my breath catching in my throat. "Oh my God….. Is she… ok?" I choked out tears starting up again.

Mom pulled me to her patting my hair gently. "She's at St. Thomas. I thought you'd want to go see her."

Nodding I got up not caring what I look like. I knew my dark hair was sticking up everywhere and I had make up under my eyes from crying. "Let's go."

"Do you know what she was doing at Juice's today?" Mom asked me walking to the living room to get her purse and keys. "No one knows what she was doing on that side of town. She told her Mom she was going to help a friend."

I shook my head no, I wasn't about to rat her out no matter how pissed I'd been at her. If I hadn't screamed at her she wouldn't have been attacked. "No. I don't think she was at Juice's. They don't like each other."

The drive to St. Thomas was short and silent for us. I rushed through the doors to the ICU hurrying to get to my friend. I spotted the MC sitting in the waiting room, a few of them pacing around. Juice was sitting with them looking anxious. He looked up catching my eyes for a brief moment before we looked away at the same time. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Where is she?" I asked everyone in general. "I want to see her."

"She's in a room right now, they're still treating her. Her parents are with her." Bobby told me looking like he wanted to say more. "Any idea what she was doing on that side of town alone?"

"No. I haven't talked to her in a few days." I said folding my arms across my chest realizing how cold I was. It was November and freezing by California standards.

Jax sighed leaned on the wall. "You sure? A boyfriend ?Anything?"

"No. I don't know why she was there." I said quietly avoiding looking at anyone. They'd know I was lying. Jessica had been doing the same exact I had been doing, visiting Juice. Leaving because I started a stupid fight with her over him.

"You didn't hear anything? Nothing unusual?" Jax turned to Juice next looking hard at him wanting information.

Juice put his head in his hands shaking his head too. "Nothing bro. I've been inside since Hap dropped me off. Sleeping mostly. I wouldn't have heard a thing."

Dad pushed through the doors just then looking angry. "What do we know?"

"Fill him in." Bobby told Tig elbowing him. "I'm going to see if she's talking yet."

We all waited around for a couple of hours before Jessica's mom finally stepped out. She looked surprised at the gathering in the waiting room. After some convincing she finally agreed to let Dad talk to her. I went in with him bracing myself for seeing her like this. She was in a hospital bed, her face beaten and bruised with cuts on it. I winced just seeing her. "Jess.." I whispered going to her bed.

Jessica turned her head to look at me, her eyes were miserable. "I know." she whispered back telling me it was okay. "It was stupid."

Dad cleared his throat loudly reminding us he was in the room. "Did you get a look at the guys that did this?"

"They were Mexican." She told him hoarsely "They were on bikes. I thought it was you guys at first so I waved. Then they did this."

He nodded reaching over to squeeze her hand. "I'm going to take care of them." he promised. "No one touches one of my girls and gets away with it. I'll send Gemma in."

We waited until he left to whisper to each other. "I told them I didn't know why you were over there." I whispered leaning close to her. "Jess, I am so sorry."

"Its not your fault. I shouldn't have been over at Juice's anyways. I told them I was just walking around." She whispered back.

The door opened with a small click, a nurse slipped in smiling. "I need to get her vitals." She told me stepping back for me to leave.

I rose from the chair I was perched on giving Jess one last glance. "I'll be back."

Jessica nodded shutting her eyes falling back into the pillow. I went back to the waiting room, everyone had left except Juice and Mom. They were sitting side by side not speaking. "She ok?" Juice finally said not looking at me when he spoke.

"Yeah she's perfect. She just had the shit beat out of her because of me." I snapped back to him angry that he'd asked that.

Mom stood up putting her hands on her hips studying us. "She was at your place wasn't she?"

Juice just shrugged getting up too from his chair. It took him a big effort but he got up. "I don't know what she was doing."

"God dammit Juice. That could have been my daughter in there!" Mom exploded shoving him. "Get your shit together before it hurts someone else!"

"Its straight. You don't have to worry about it anymore." Juice told her looking at me when he said it. "Nothing to hide now."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach, knowing exactly what he meant by that. He was ending things with me.

**Just in case it seemed out of place, I thought I' remind everyone that a Mayan did spot Jess with Juice at the beach when they were getting into the car to leave. Therefore, associating her with the club. And don't hate me too much for breaking them up. **


	9. Chapter 9

**I think you'll all be happy to see this chapter finally go up :D there's more Kozik cuz well…. I like him ;) I do just want to clarify a couple of things. Aleah and Jax are not very close, their age difference is too big for them to have a close sibling relationship, And try not to hate me too much for this…. Its fun entertainment. **

**And… thank you all for your reviews! I value all of them including my guest reviewers. Special thanks as always to Jessica for her help in plotting all of this out and letting me fawn over Juice/Kozik on a daily basis and her pic inspiration.**

I do not own SOA. Only my characters.

Chapter 9 Beat down all around town

We were in chapel going over the Mayan situation when I decided it was time to confess a few things. I don't know what the hell I was thinking except for maybe it'd help somehow. "Look guys…. I need to tell you something." I spoke up twiddling my thumbs around while I spoke.

"What's a matter Juicy?" Tig asked reaching over to ruffle my Mohawk. "Thought you didn't know anything?"

I looked up meeting Clay's piercing blue eyes. So much like Aleah's and not at the same time. Aleah's eyes didn't tell me they'd gut me. "Jessica. She was over at my place that morning it happened."

Clay's eyes hardened giving me a I-knew-you-were-a-fuck-up look. "So you lied to us?" He asked accusingly. "We asked if you knew of anything happening around the neighborhood that she'd be there for."

I sat back in my chair trying to look more relaxed than I really was. "No I didn't lie. I thought she was long gone by the evening. She left my place around noon."

"You been fuckin her?" Bobby asked me turning his head to see me.

I shook my head no quickly. I didn't want to go down THAT path again. "Nah. I've been having her come around to clean up the place, do some laundry shit like that brother. Nothing sleazy went on. When Hap dropped me off I needed some help getting around and didn't have anybody to come over."

"So you called her." Jax cut in, I couldn't tell if he was mad or amused right now. "And got her to come sponge bathe your old child molesting ass."

The room broke out in laughter breaking the tension instantly. I laughed with them in spite of myself. "No I'm serious guys. Its not like that. She just came over to help me out, when I was ready to lay down I told her she could go for the day. She asked me about cleaning up once or twice, seemed broke so I started letting her." _And I was actually fucking your sister while she cleaned_ I thought to myself.

Clay nodded his head picking up the gavel. "Her mom does it too." He laughed some more with the others before saying in a more serious tone. "So unless Juice is fuckin the Mayans too, we need to lay out a plan of action for them. SAMTAC is sending us some back up since Juice is still gimping around here and they're bringin Chibs back with them."

"Did the police report post yet?" Jax asked me lighting a cigarette. "Unser said it'd be today."

"Yeah. She kept to the story. Told them she didn't know who grabbed her and that she was just going for a walk." I told them. I'd already hacked into Unser's computer system and looked for myself instead of waiting for him to call. "She's not talking to them."

Bobby hit his cigarette pack on the table a few times before he spoke. "You think the Mayans grabbed her cause they thought she was Juice's girl?"

"Exactly what I think." Clay told him looking around the table at all of us. "No one lets any females walk alone until we take care of this. Just keep an eye out, they're watching us from somewhere."

"Is Kozik coming?" I finally got the chance to ask. I was pissed with that punk ass surfer dude. It was his fault I laid down my bike, his fault Jessica got her ass beat.

Tig smirked his eyes looking gleeful. "You gonna beat his ass Juicy Boy?" I knew they had some sort of beef going on, but had no idea exactly what it was about. Tig would love it if I kicked Kozik's ass but the chances I'd win were slim to none. Kozik was a lot older, and a lot bigger than I was.

"Planning on it. I'm getting around okay now." I replied smashing my butt into an ashtray. "I gotta get my bike fixed."

We talked for a while longer planning on going out as soon as it was dark to storm the Mayans. When Clay banged the gavel down we all went separate ways except for me and Tig. We headed to the garage for our shifts. I was taking notes on the damage I'd done to my most prized possession. So far I needed a grand in parts and a new paint job. It could have been worse though.

Tig came over to help me start tearing it down while the garage slowed down some. The new mechanics were working out alright. Neither of them asked much and pretty well stayed out of the way. Lowell stopped coming to work a week ago, Clay'd heard he was on a binge somewhere in Lodi. The kid had went downhill lately since some blonde turned up with a kid she claimed was his.

"You think you could hook me up with that gash if you're not doing her?" Tig asked me out of nowhere turning a wrench.

I gave him a confused look. "Who?" I had no clue who he was asking me to hook him up with.

Tig gave me a grin pulling the part off that he'd just unbolted. "The blonde man. She's young. Its gotta be tight."

"Eww. No. Hell no. You're old enough to be her Dad!" I laughed, realizing he meant Jessica. "You're a sick man."

"Hey she's legal." Tig argued still grinning when he moved to get a rag. "I just figured if you didn't want some fresh new pussy, I might as well-"

I stopped him there not wanting to think about her like that. "No. Just…no. I don't think so." I laughed some more when we stopped for a break.

Tig took a swig of his drink nudging my boot with his. "Guess you got a point. It'd be like trying to tap that."

I followed his eyes over to Aleah standing in the office doorway. I hadn't talked to her since I left the hospital a couple nights ago. She'd been trying to call my home number but I knew it was her and didn't answer. I didn't have anything else to say to her. I knew I needed to keep my distance from her now. If she'd been walking to my house 10 minutes later, she would have been the one that got put in ICU. There was no doubt in my mind the Mayan that saw us at the beach was the one that pointed Jessica out. It was just better for her to be away from me.

I'd been hoping she'd take the day off with Jess being in the hospital so I wouldn't have to see her. I didn't want to look at her. I knew she was miserable without hearing her say it. I was starting to get pretty fucking lonely and miserable myself. Aleah turned her head just then glancing at us. Tig gave her a wave and I just looked away. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Thought you had some bitch you were seeing anyways?" Tig said digging in his pockets for a light.

I shook my head wanting to snap at him and tell him not to talk about her like that. "Nah. Didn't work out. Not what I needed right now. Bobby's trying to get me to meet some friend of his."

And I didn't want to meet her. Any woman that was friends with Precious couldn't be for me. I'd met Bobby's crazy ass ex-wife a few times and she was hell on wheels. I was more of a good girl kind of guy, nice quiet types. Aleah had been perfect, she was shy, quiet, and young enough I could still get her to do what I wanted without much lip back. I handed him my lighter out of my pocket looking out at the lot. Crow eaters were still hanging around, picking up bottles from last night, waiting to see who might be available.

"See something you like?" Tig's voice broke in my thoughts handing me the lighter back.

"Don't think I'm up for that yet." I told him with a grin. The truth was I'd stopped fucking the crow eaters when I started sleeping with Aleah. I wasn't a cheater even if the sex took some major effort on my part the first few times. She was pretty good in bed now that I'd whispered a few instructions though. I knew I'd miss the way she felt against me more than anything.

We stood in silence a while longer finishing our smokes before going back to my poor broken down baby. "I'm kicking Kozik's ass for this shit." I muttered under my breath. I had the cash to fix it, but I hated to spend it. I was trying to get a decent amount put back to buy my own place, maybe a cage too.

"Here's your chance." Tig told me when the roar of several bikes came into the compound.

Chibs was in the front leading them in. Four guys total had came down. I spotted Kozik right off the bat. He was the only blonde one. The second he saw me his face broke out into a grin. "Hey man, I was hoping I'd see you to-"

I tossed the wrench I had in my hand down grabbing for him. Fists were flying everywhere as we rolled around pummeling each other. "Juice!" I heard someone shout as I shoved him into picnic table outside.

I groaned when I felt his fist collide with my nose. "Shit!" I exclaimed striking back. I'd had my ass beat enough when I was kid that I could stand a good beat down. We fought until we finally had each other in holds huffing to catch our breath. My leg was throbbing like hell.

"Break 'em up!" I heard Clay yell. "Break it up Juice!"

Chibs grabbed Kozik by the his cut yanking him away while Happy drug me away. "Not bad." Happy rasped shocking me with the compliment. "I'll give you a tat tomorrow." A hell of a prize for getting my nose broke.

He let go of me letting me lurch forward, hands on my knees breathing hard. Blood was pouring from my nose onto my already dirty work shirt. "Go get cleaned up." Chibs told me patting me on the back. "You know where the extras are."

I nodded standing up pulling my shirt off to hold against my nose. "I'm fine." I told him when he started to pull it away. "What about him?"

"About the same." Bobby laughed looking amused. Tig was grinning so much I felt like his face might crack. "Maybe next time you should pick on someone your own size though Rocky."

I started for the clubhouse moving slowly, Aleah peeked around the doorway worry in her blue eyes. I just kept walking, ignoring her. By the time I made it to the bathroom in the apartment the bleeding had slowed some. I sat on the edge of the shower waiting for it to stop before I even tried to wipe off the rest of the blood. "Fuccckkkkkk." I groaned stretching my leg out. It felt just as bad as it did when I jumped out of the window now. The road burn was stinging.

"Juice?" Aleah's voice whispered coming inside. She crept into the bathroom with me carrying a first aid kit. "Let me help you."

I gave her a cautious look before nodding that she could touch me. Her small hands went to work getting a wet wash cloth, alcohol and peroxide out of the cabinet. I closed my eyes letting her dab at my face, wincing at the stings. The alcohol made the road burn ache all over again. "I need to move your shirt." She said softly slowly taking the bloodied work shirt from my hands.

I opened my eyes up then looking straight into hers. She looked down a flush rising to her round cheeks. "I don't think its broken. Chibs can tell you that for sure though. I'm used to scrapes from Jax and Dad."

Aleah leaned over me to grab another wash cloth, brushing against my chest slightly. "Here." She started wiping at the blood on my lips. I watched her face carefully looking for any sign she might be grossed out even though she'd done this before. "Does it hurt?"

I didn't say anything back to her. I just leaned my head up as far as I dared to so I wouldn't bleed on her and gave her a small peck on her soft pink lips. I tilted my head back again feeling the blood start to rush back down. "I can do this." I finally said holding the shirt back up.

"Can I come talk to you? Maybe tonight?" Aleah whispered her cool hand touching my swollen cheek.

"I don't know." I didn't think it was a good idea. Kissing her wasn't a good idea either. "I don't think you should." I told her honestly. "I think maybe…" Footsteps sounded across the floor.

Jax appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. "You ok bro?" He asked grinning at me. "Kozik's pretty fucked up too."

"Yeah. If I'd quit bleeding I'd be great." I laughed then groaned when my head pounded with it. "The resident nurse is patching me up. Chibs doing Koz?"

Jax sat down on the edge beside me watching Aleah place a tiny white band aid above my eyebrow. "Yeah man. Didn't know you were a fighter."

"Even the nerds can throw a punch." I joked moving my head back down again. No blood rushed out this time. "Thanks Aleah." I told her tossing the shirt in the trash. "I got it from here."

Aleah stood up gathering the kit back together. "I'm going back to work. You guys try not to kill each other." She smiled at Jax giving him a one armed hug before leaving.

I cleaned myself up after she left and headed back to chapel with the rest of the MC. Time to knuckle down on our plans now that the back up was here. I zoned out for most of it knowing they weren't going to let me go anyhow. The most help I'd be was driving the van if they needed it. We were in there for hours talking things over, weighing the pros and cons of each attack before deciding on a plan of action.

Everyone was going to Mayan territory but me and Piney. The cripple and the old man. "I'll come by later." Tig told me as they were heading out. "Bring you some bitches and booze over."

I laughed knowing he probably would do exactly that. "That's what having brothers is all about." I watched from the open garage bay as they rode out going to retaliate. I hated not getting to go, I was missing the fun and the money. I couldn't get paid as long as my baby was torn down. I stayed around working on bike getting as much done as possible, hopefully by tomorrow night she'd be up and running.

It was pitch black out now except for the few flood lights hanging around, and deserted. Aleah had left a couple of hours ago with Gemma at closing time and I was glad. As big of a pussy as I felt admitting it even to myself, I still had feelings for her. I'd caught her peeking out at me more than once today but pretended not to. I had a feeling as soon as I went home she'd turn up wanting to know why I'd broken it off with her. I wanted to avoid any type of relationship talk at all costs until I could put myself in asshole Juice mode.

I took the tow truck home spotting her before I even pulled in. Aleah was sitting on my steps her legs pulled into her chest hugging herself. I sighed to myself . "Shit." I mumbled dragging myself out of the truck. I walked up the walkway slowly dreading what I was about to do. "What are you doing here?"

Aleah looked up at me her blue eyes were glistening. "Waiting for you."

I sank down beside her on the steps, they were low and only two of them so we were mashed together. "I told you not to come by. You shouldn't be out walking around anyways." Last thing I wanted was for her to get jumped next. The guys were taking care of business but that didn't mean there weren't any stragglers around.

"I don't have your new number so I couldn't text you. You don't even pick up your house line." Aleah shifted beside me shivering a little.

It was pretty cold outside tonight I realized. I had on a long sleeve plus a work shirt and a cut so I didn't notice it as much. "Why didn't you go inside?" I wondered aloud. She knew where the key was at.

"I didn't think you'd want me to just go inside your place."

I got up bracing myself on the siding for support knowing if we were going to talk we needed to do it in private anyways. "Come on. Its cold out here, I'll get you something to drink." I opened the door leading her in behind me. "I think I have some hot chocolate if you're frozen."

Aleah shook her head her brown hair moving with it. It was in curls again today, I loved it when she fixed it like that. "No thanks." She sat down at my kitchen table watching me get myself a beer out of the fridge. Alcohol always helps bad situations.

"What do you want to talk about?" I bluntly asked not wanting this to last any longer than it had to. I'd never been a heart breaker, girls usually left me. It was killing me to see her look so upset and not do anything about it. She was pale skinned and dark circles were forming under her eyes.

"Why haven't you talked to me since the day I found Jess over here?" Aleah picked at something stuck on my table. Probably tomato sauce. "I know you guys didn't do anything, we apologized. I'm sorry I accused you too."

That didn't even bother me anymore. It annoyed me more than anything when it happened. "Its cool. I understand what it looked like. I needed some help, don't have many friends around Charming to come over." I replied curtly still standing. I stood against the fridge keeping my distance from her.

Aleah bit her bottom lip in, like she was trying to keep her mouth in control. I'd seen that happen to too many females to not know it. It meant she was about to cry. Crying from a female was something I didn't handle well. "So its really over?" She managed to get out keeping herself in check.

"Yeah its really over." I used a lame tone trying my best to sound like a jerk. "It wasn't supposed to go on this long."

She gave me a sad look, tiny tears were starting to escape the corner of her eyes now. "What do you mean 'this long'? I thought we decided to be together?"

"We did. Then I decided you were just a kid and I was stupid for thinking it could be anything more than a few fucks."

"W-w-what?" Aleah choked out wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

I rolled my eyes at her realizing I was going to have to be brutal. "It didn't mean anything. I was just having some fun. Now I'm not having fun anymore. So its done. You can go back to preschool." I downed what was left in my beer bottle tossing it in the trash. "You should probably get home before Daddy finds out you're gone."

Aleah looked like she wanted to curl up and cry her eyes out. Quick sobs started coming from her chest while her body shook slightly. "Why are you being like this?" she cried getting up shakily from the kitchen chair.

"Like what? I'm just being honest babe. You were a quick fix for regular pussy." I told her looking away again. If I kept watching her cry I knew it'd only take one time for her to look me dead in the eyes before I broke down the wall I was putting up.

"I did… so much… to be with you." She cried burying her face in her hands. Her breaths were becoming more ragged. "And you used me." She made a quiet choking sound coughing. "I can't… can't…" She coughed like a hacking sound trying to catch her breath.

Without thinking I reached over and patted her on the back trying to calm her down. Her body shook more with sobs leaning into mine. I stared up at the ceiling. What the fuck did I just do? "Shhhh… don't cry. I'm sorry ok?" I whispered rubbing up and down her back. "Calm down baby. Shhhh."

"Y-y-you…." Aleah started to say but didn't finish crying some more. Her tiny hands were pulling on my shirts for support.

I picked her up best I could in my crippled state and took to the couch. "Calm down Lee… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Just stop ok? I lied." I ran my hands through her curls kissing her forehead gently. "I'm not what you need. You need someone that you don't have to hide. Or that doesn't get your best friend beat up."

Aleah buried her face further into my chest, her sobs were starting to ease up some. "You were being so cruel." She whispered into the leather of my cut.

"I know I was. I thought it was what you needed to hear. Look at me." I pleaded her pulling her head up to look at me. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to be the one they get next time."

It scared me bad. More than I would admit to any of the guys, that Jessica was grabbed just a few houses down from me. If it'd been just a few minutes later, they would have got Aleah instead. I felt bad for Jessica but I couldn't stand the idea of them hurting Aleah. We stayed on the couch for a few more minutes with me holding her while she calmed down little by little. I rubbed her back in small circles holding her close.

"You smell like…. Sweat." Aleah whispered making me grin even though she was basically telling me I smelled rank.

"I know, I need a shower. Will you be ok for a few minutes?" I asked her kissing her salty tasting cheeks. I knew I was filthy from the garage covered in grease, gas, sweat, and some of my own blood.

She kissed the side of my hand on her face nodding yes. "I'll wait right here."

I reached behind us grabbing her the black throw blanket. "Here. You're still freezing. I'll grab you something heavier to wear too."

I got her one of my reaper hoodies and a pair of my pajama bottoms before I went to shower. I headed back into the bathroom trying to hurry. The rate I was going, she'd split before I got done. I was halfway through my shower when I heard the pounding on the door then the crash. "What the fuck?" I hurried out grabbing a towel. I was tucking it around my waist when Aleah screamed out. "Daddy no!"

A split second later Clay's fist slammed into my face knocking me backwards. "Shit Clay!" I yelled out grabbing onto the corner of the wall.

"You fucking piece of shit bastard!" Clay shouted his fist coming down in repeat on me while Aleah screamed for him to stop. "Get her the fuck outta here Tig!"

"You're hurting him!" Aleah shrieked as Clay grabbed me by the shoulders slamming me down into my ceramic topped coffee table.

I didn't even try to fight back or get away from him. I knew I was a shit bag for fucking his very young, very underage daughter. "Stay the fuck away from my daughter you fucking molester!" Clay yelled kicking me hard in the ribs.

"Clay! C'mon man. You're gonna kill him!" Tig grabbed Clay yanking him off of me. I could barely focus on them as the room spun around. "He's already got the shit beat out of him once today. C'mon. I didn't tell you I saw here over here for this shit to go down."

I laid there not even trying to get up until Tig had pushed Clay back out of my busted in front door. "You're lucky I don't beat the dog shit out of you too." Tig told me lifting me up dragging me to the bathroom. "What the fuck were you thinking Juice? Huh?"

"I…." I closed my eyes letting the pain from my back take over as I passed out.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN- Once again, thanks for your reviews including the guests ones. Chelsea, you're a dear for reviewing each chapter for me I just wanted to tell you a big thanks! Jessica mucho gracias for all your help. Maybe I can start focusing on the chapter I've been writing for three days now lol. **

**I do not own Sons of Anarchy**

Chapter 10 Party Tonight

I woke up in my bed covered up with the dark fluffy comforter. My body hurt like hell. I started to sit up but stopped wincing at the pain in my sides. _Who the hell had put me in bed and covered me up?_ I wondered looking around my room. Band aids, peroxide, and bandages were on my nightstand along with a bottle of water and some pills.

I shifted around slowly letting last night sink in a little at a time while I downed the pills. Looked like aspirin. I rolled myself from the bed letting myself adjust to the weigh on my leg before I dragged myself to the bathroom then the living room. Destroyed was an understatement. The coffee table was in a million broken pieces, the front door was in wood chips from Clay busting it down. Someone had boarded it up for me when I'd been passed out.

_Fuck fuck fuck _I thought getting another bottle of water and downing it. I'd never been beaten this bad in my life. I was fucked as far as being able to go on any runs for at least a week, there was no way I could work on my bike this. If Clay even let me back on the lot. I had expected him to be pissed, but not kill me pissed. I deserved it and more though. I grabbed my burner checking the 100 voicemails and missed calls I had.

There were some from Aleah that I deleted before I even listened to, some from Chibs seeing if I was okay, the rest were from Tig telling me to call him when I woke up or come to the clubhouse ASAP. I opened up my texts, the ones from the guys first, then Aleah's. She sent me things like please call me. I'm worried about you, are you hurt, please don't be mad. I rolled my eyes hitting 'delete all' not replying to her. I wasn't about to take another beating for communication when I was barely moving now.

After taking an hour to pull myself together enough to attempt driving to the clubhouse in the tow truck, I hit the road driving slowly. My face was swollen, when I'd looked in the mirror it almost made me puke to see the bruised skin and the cuts. I pulled in, my nerves starting to prickle at the sight of all the bikes. Looked like all of SAMCRO plus the SAMTAC guys that came down were here. Gemma's car was parked out front of the garage along with the regular mechanics rides. They stared as I got out of the truck, Gemma was standing outside talking to them giving me a look of pure pity. I nodded to her going to the clubhouse to see if I was a dead man gimping.

"Hey brother." Bobby said the second I pushed open the clubhouse door studying my face carefully.

I didn't answer him, I just went to the bar and got a drink. I could feel the stares on my back from a few of them. "What'd you guys need me for?" I finally said sitting down on one of the stools. "I had a million calls. Thought something went down."

The chapel door opened up, Clay and Jax were standing in the doorway talking in hushed voices. Clay looked up seeing me, his expression turning dark instantly. "Juice. Come here." He ordered motioning for me to come to the chapel.

Jax slipped out past him giving me a hard look when we passed each other, his body bowing up at me. I shut the door behind me going to my seat at the end of the table, far far away from Clay. We sat there in silence for a few minutes looking at each other without moving. "I know I did a real shitty thing-" I started deciding to get it over with. If he was going to kill he needed to do it before my pain pills started wearing off too much.

"You did a really fucking shitty thing. A very fucking disrespectful thing." Clay interjected leaning to put his elbows on the table. "You lied to this club. Snuck around with my underage kid. Got her doing shit she wouldn't normally do."

I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my cut nodding in agreement. "I know. She just… shit…I don't know how to explain what the fuck I was thinking."

Clay sighed loudly rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Look Juice, this is it. Aleah's my only daughter. Only blood family I got left. She's the baby in the family." He dropped his hands in his lap, turning them over helplessly. "She needs something better than this. I've kept her out of this shitty life for as long as I could."

"I know." I repeated just to show him I was listening to him.

"I want something else for her. She's a bright girl, going to college soon, but she's growing up." He lit a cigar puffing a few times pausing the conversation. "But I can't stop her from doing what she wants and she claims you're what she wants even if you are a beaten piece of shit."

I swallowed hard taking out my own cigarettes to light up. Needed something to try to calm myself down. "Aleah's a good girl Clay. I don't want to screw up anything for her."

He nodded his head leaning back in the chair. I noticed then how bad he looked, like he didn't sleep for a week straight. "Treat her right or I cut your balls off." He warned me. "You ever do anything to hurt my baby girl and Tig won't be able to save your ass again."

We talked a few more minutes, just small talk, deciding since I was in no condition to work at the garage or go on any runs I'd update the computers and surveillance. The new guy Gemma hired was supposed to be finishing my bike up today even though I couldn't ride. He was a big son a bitch. Reminded me of Opie only this guy was like Mr. Rogers. Or Carter, like he introduced himself. He was okay, just extremely polite and felt the need to talk the entire time I was hobbling around the garage watching him mess with my baby.

I hadn't tried calling or texting Aleah yet. I was planning on doing that as soon as I got back home and could talk more than a few quick words between chapel sessions. SAMCRO had staged a good attack on the Mayans last night with no injuries, but we weren't sure if they were going to retaliate anytime soon. No one really thought they would, but the SAMTAC guys were hanging around for a few days just in case.

We were sitting around the clubhouse after our latest meeting, having a few drinks together. "So was it worth getting your ass beat over?" Bobby asked me laughing at the way I was moving. I felt like a 80 year old man. How the hell Piney was getting around so good was a wonder.

"What are you talkin' about man?" I replied sitting down on my favorite stool at the very end of the counter.

Tig laughed clapping me on the back hard enough to make me wince. "You know what. Your piece of jailbait."

I rolled my eyes flicking ashes into the tray. I so wasn't going there. They'd turn anything I said about Aleah into something dirty. I didn't want her tainted in my mind or theirs like that. "Her birthdays in two weeks." I reminded them trying to close the subject.

"C'mon man, we're supposed to be brothers and shit. Tell us the truth, was that the first cherry you've ever popped?" Tig asked plopping down beside me with no intentions on leaving anytime soon obviously.

"Shut up guys." I sighed as their jokes starting coming out. "She's supposed to be like a niece to you, how the hell are you going to sit here and talk about her like that?"

"How the hell can you fuck her you cradle robbin son of a bitch?" Was the laughing reply I got from one of them. SAMTAC was howling right along with the others.

Standing up, I flipped them all off getting even more cheers. "You guys can fuck off." I told them glancing at the surveillance footage to see if Gemma was still there. "Somebody drive me home."

"Call your lass to come pick ye up boyo." Chibs spouted off. At least he held back from the more vulgar comments. "If she's old enough for a license that is."

"Ha ha. You guys have a great sense of humor you know that?" I snapped grabbing my burner phone off of the counter telling Aleah I was coming by her house for her in 20 minutes. "I'm going home. You guys have fun in this sausage fest while I'm with my girl."

I waved bye to Carter when I grabbed the keys and took off before anyone could stop me from driving. I pulled up in Clay's driveway noting his bike was already there, Aleah came running out of the house as soon as I put the truck in park. She hopped in quickly a look of shock when she saw my face. "Shit Juice…. Are you ok?" She asked touching my cheekbone with light fingers. "I don't know who got their ass beat worse this week, you or Jess."

"I'm fine babe." I waved to Gemma's face appearing in the window before I headed towards my house. "Nothin that hasn't happened to me before." I reminded her.

Once we were inside I realized I'd forgotten about the mess in my house. We'd used the backdoor to come in. "Sorry. I forgot about this shit." I apologized. I really didn't feel like getting down on the floor and cleaning it all up either. I was pushing my luck moving around all day already. "Just come back here."

Aleah hopped onto my bed leaning back on her elbows. "Can I do anything for you?" Her eyes were going over my body as I pulled my clothes off at a snails pace. "Food? Clean up that mess?"

"I'll get someone in here to do." I laid down beside her giving her a grin. "You can't threaten my new housekeeper."

She giggled moving to lay curled up next to me being careful not to put any weight on my body. "How about I clean your house from now on?" She suggested touching the Reaper on my forearm that I'd gotten a few days after I patched in.

"You don't have to pick up after me. You're going to be busy. School shit." I reminded her nuzzling her hair with my nose to breath in her shampoo. Always the same fruity smell. It was kinda cheerful smelling if that was even possible. "Your dad said you graduate early, in December same week as your birthday."

Aleah nodded touching over my bruises now, gentle. "Yep. I expect good presents too." she joked pulling my arm around her smaller frame. "Nothing dumb either."

"Together a few hours and you're already bossing me around." I quipped tucking my hand into the waist of her ripped up jeans. They were very…. Punk. Not something I expected her to wear. Her black sweater had bright pink lace things cut out in spots too, showing skin. "What happened last night to make your dad so mellow?"

She started explaining things to me, telling me how Gemma had cut into their fighting and pulled Clay away. Aleah said the best she could figure out was that she told him Aleah only had a couple of weeks before she'd be free to be with me anyways. Clay wasn't big on it, wanted her to find a normal guy but gave in. I held her close letting her talk before I started our own discussion. Laying down the rules now that we were out enough to go out in public together.

"So lets get this straight, no parties without you, no drinking without you, no drugs without you, no sex without you, and no fun in general?" Aleah raised an eyebrow sitting cross legged on the bed looking down at me.

I nodded a playful grin spreading on my face ,it hurt to grin too wide. "Pretty much. You're mine now ya know."

She gave me a death glare, her blue eyes turning hard. "And what are the rules for you?"

"Normal relationship stuff. You know how it is." I didn't want to go into the whole 'run rules'. "I can take care of myself. Can't you see?" I motioned at my bruised, band aid covered face.

Aleah glared at me a few seconds more before she started laughing. "Goof."

**A few days later….**

As good as things were going with us, I didn't have the heart to tell my girl her party sucked balls. It was a birthday/grad party combo at Gemma and Clay's with some of the club invited, some friends of hers, and a few of Gemma's. Hardly any young people were there milling around in the crowd apart from her and Jess.

"Bored?" Aleah asked me brushing past to get herself another mini sandwich looking thing. "I tried to talk Mom out of this."

We'd all tried to talk Gemma out of this. The most exciting part of the night for me was Aleah's outfit. She had on a little black dress thing with no back to it, and heels. If I stared too long I got a hard on and had to walk away. The girl was going to get me beat down again if she kept rubbing herself against me anytime she got close by. No sex for two weeks was seriously killing me.

"No. I'm having fun." I lied from the dining room chair I was letting myself fall in. After two weeks of being a gimp, I was finally as good as new. "Want your presents?" I offered glancing at the pile on the today. Most of them were wrapped in pink paper with huge bows making me feel a little nervous about presenting mine. No one could out do Clay's gift, he'd got her a white Ford Fusion that she couldn't even drive yet.

Aleah grinned holding her hands out her black tipped nails shining. "Give it up Carlos."

I reached in my pocket handing her the small card watching her face as she ripped the envelope open. "I have more. They're just… at my house."

Her lips moved silently reading the card before she laughed, a pink tinge appearing on her rounded cheekbones. "Driving lessons? I can drive." She leaned down to give me a kiss slipping into my lap. "Maybe I'll take you for a ride."

"Baby you can take me for a ride anytime." I whispered through her curly hair. She'd started wearing it that way more once she found out I preferred it.

Aleah giggled giving me another kiss, holding this one longer.

"Awww look at the little lovebirds." Luann's annoying voice broke in, her stripper heels making a tapping sound as she walked across the tile floor. "You kids are cute together. Reminds me of me and Otto."

"They are kind of sweet in that princess meets the biker way aren't they?" Gemma smirked coming in carrying an empty tray. "You guys should take the new car for a spin."

Aleah shifted in my lap leaning up to grab my cup of punch pressing on my balls when she did. "Want to?" She took a sip out of it telling me with her eyes she wanted to get out of here as much as I did.

"Yeah. Why not?" I wished like hell Gemma and Luann would turn around or go away before I had to stand up. "Jess coming?" I didn't really want her to but I had a feeling she would. She got out of the hospital a few days ago and like me, only looked a little rough.

She nodded kissing my cheek before she stood up brushing off her tiny little dress. "I'll go save her from the guys. I think Wendy's getting jealous anyways."

Jax's junky came back from rehab a couple days ago announcing she was knocked up with SAMCRO spawn. Jax was far from happy about it but he was attempting to make it work. Best I could tell it took him a few hard drinks to be civil but hey whatever worked. I waited for her to come back with Jessica arm in arm and thought about asking her to change before we left. Not wanting to sound like someone's grandpa, I kept my mouth shut on Jessica's outfit of choice. A skirt so short I could see her ass hanging out, and a leather top thingy with boots that put Gemma's in the tame category.

"We'll be back." Aleah told Gemma giving her a hug. "I told Daddy we were taking Juice with us."

I poked my head in the living room to give the guys a quick wave before I headed out with the girls. By the time we made it a few blocks away Aleah was doing decent, driving like somebody's grandma. Jessica poked her head between the seats her perfume making me wrinkle her nose. The girl smelled like a French whore. "Do we have to go back?" She sighed hating the party as much as I did.

"I don't know where we can go." Aleah looked at her in the mirror then me. "Any ideas?"

I knew where we could go. "Take a right here. Then turn onto Hillside." I directed her pointing at the turns. "We're going to a real party."

After a few more minutes we finally made it to my friends Jeff's house, just outside of Charming. I'd met him down at the marina one night when we were snooping around for information. "I'm not responsible for anything you do." I told Jessica grabbing the keys from Aleah. "C'mon." I led them into the house, forcing our way through the door.

The party was pretty hot already. I nodded and waved to a few people as I pushed my way through the crowd both girls sticking close to me. I looked around for Jeff while I made our way to one of the 10 coolers sitting out. I grabbed myself a beer then the girls not knowing if they'd even drink them. We walked around some more sipping, mingling , and just hanging out.

"I'm going to find the bathroom!" Aleah shouted over the loud metal music. "Jess is coming with me!"

"I'll wait here!" I yelled back into her ear taking her beer to hold. As soon as the girls walked off someone clapped me on the back hard.

I turned my head slightly seeing who it was before I snapped at them. Carter, the big burly mechanic from the garage was behind me grinning. "Hey man! Didn't know you partied with us normal people."

"Only when I don't want to deal with the clubs shit." I laughed stepping over to make room for him beside me looking at the crowd of drunks. "Didn't know you were friends with Jeff."

Carter gulped from his plastic cup nodding his head, his green eyes were looking a little cloudy. "Yep. He's my cousin. Whose the chicks you brought in? I thought most guys were doin good to have one hottie on their arm."

I laughed knowing what it looked like when I went out with Aleah and Jessica at the same time. I didn't think Jess was hot but apparently everyone else did. "My girl and her friend. She's kind of the third wheel." I explained lifting my beer to them as they started pushing their way back towards me.

"Which ones yours?" Carter asked looking them over with a wide grin.

I pointed at Aleah feeling a little proud to finally be able to do this. "The brunette. She's Clay's daughter. The blonde is Jessica. Bit of a slut though if you're looking."

"You gonna hook me up man?" He asked just before they made it over to us.

Aleah took her beer back from me, Jess had already finished hers. "This is pretty cool. Its so laid back." She looked at Carter beside me. "Who's he?"

I slipped an arm around her waist pulling her closer against me. "This is Carter. He works for your Dad. You'd know that if you ever went to work."

"Hey, I go to work. You never go to work." She retorted downing the bottle. "I need a refill."

"C'mon." I started pulling her with me, I popped Carter on the chest and nodded to Jessica. "Hey keep my friend company."

Aleah looked behind us as we left them , they were finally starting to talk to each other. "He's not a rapist is he?" She joked accepting the beer I twisted the cap off for her. "Let's mingle."

So we mingled. I took her around introducing her to the few friends I had outside of the club, showing her off. We were both starting to get a good buzz. I lost track of how many drinks either of us had a couple of hours ago. Aleah was holding her liquor pretty damn good, she was taking them one after another. I'd saw Jessica pressed against Carter when we passed by them to go with Jeff to the 'private party' as he referred to it.

The room was dark, only a dim lamp was on for light. There were only a few people hanging around inside besides us. It had a couple of beat up couches, and a worn out round table. I knew exactly what was being cut into lines and knew I didn't need any. The guys would kick my ass if I did coke. Aleah was looking around, her eyes falling on the white powder too. She swallowed then looked up at me as we sat down on the couch with Jeff. He offered us the blunt he was smoking. That I could do. I took a hard pull off of it before I passed it to Aleah.

"So Juice man, I didn't think you'd really show up." Jeff smirked. He was an ok guy, he looked like a total stoner though. Round, frameless glasses and long greasy light colored hair. Pretty laid back and liked video games.

"Always up for a party." I took the blunt back from Aleah to give to him. "Didn't know this was your scene though." I jerked my thumb over to the coke.

Aleah leaned into me placing a small hand on my thigh. I lifted an arm around her kicking back. "Sometimes. Everyone could use a boost every now and then. Want to try some?" Jeff offered passing back to Aleah. "We're in Lodi man." He reminded as if to make it clear the Sons couldn't do anything about his party favors.

I shook my head watching her drag on the blunt. Images of her pink lips around something else went through my mind. "Nah. Not for me. The MC would kick my ass."

"What about her?" Jeff asked looking back to Aleah with his beady eyes. "Your girl party?"

"I don't-" I started to say when she put a hand on my chest stopping me. The fuck?

Aleah gave Jeff a grin standing up pulling down on her dress at the same time. "Yeah. Lets go."

I stared in amazement at the girl in front of me. Three months ago she'd never smoked pot, now she was wanting to snort coke at a party. "You sure about this?" She was so … straight laced for this. I was supposed to be the wild one in this relationship.

"Yes. I need to have some fun." She replied giving me a look walking to the round table with Jeff. "I don't know how though."

Digging in my camo pants for my wallet, I knew I should tell her no. But I knew that'd piss her off. We'd already had one small fight a week ago when I asked her if she did her homework when I picked her up. "How much?" I asked knowing I'd be the one paying for her little adventure. I hadn't touched the stuff in a couple of years, I had no clue what it was going for now days. My drug days ended in Queens.

"First time?" Jeff asked grabbing a little plastic baggy and a razor.

Aleah nodded eagerly taking the straw he held out to her. "Yeah."

Jeff glanced up at me, his eyes asking me silently if it was okay. I shrugged helplessly as he started the line for her. "Just give me $20 then. Try it out. I bought it from a guy in Oke town."

He leaned over the table then instructing her on what to do. I placed the twenty down for her share, watching her snort. As soon as she stood up I was pissed at myself for letting her. She wiped at her left nostril then coughed loudly. "It feels….."

"Like a big ball in the back of your throat?" I smirked knowing exactly how it felt. "It'll take a few minutes to kick in then it'll numb it."

"So, did you get your bike back up? I heard you laid it down." Jeff asked settling back down on the couch. "Carter said he was workin for the Sons now."

"Yeah. Got it back a few days ago. Glad we didn't bring it tonight though." I looked at Aleah who was clearly starting to feel her high from the look in her eyes. "Think I'm the designated driver." I swigged from my drink joking.

Jeff laughed tossing me another beer starting to talk about bikes. He didn't ride, but he liked to look. We stayed in the room talking for a while before Aleah started her tweek out. "I'm gonna… take her out." I told him pulling my very high girlfriend out with me. "Thanks bro. C'mon baby, lets get out of here." We made it as far as the living room before it really hit her.

"Juiiiiceeee…. Why didn't you let me do this before now? I feel….amazing. Like… super amazing." She yammered on her blue eyes getting brighter the more dilated her pupils got. "Where's Jess? I miss Jess. Oh my god… I love this song!"

She grabbed my hand starting to dance up on me in the crowd of people. I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. I danced with her feeling awkward. I hadn't moved like this since I was 20 and went to the clubs and raves back home. When she spotted Jessica she ran and enveloped her in a tight hug getting whistles from everyone near by. "Dance with me!"

Jessica laughed along with her clearly drunk herself as they started grinding on each other. "Shit Juice. What'd you do to her?" Carter laughed getting beside me watching the girls move together.

"Just a few drinks." I lied keeping an eye on Aleah, babysitting her. "What'd you do to her?" I threw back at him grinning.

"Just a few drinks." He mimicked me chuckling. I leaned against the wall beside him half ass enjoying the show we were getting. "So, hey, do you care if I take Jessica home?"

I almost spit my beer back out in disgust. "What? No. Hell no. Take her home. Your home." If he took Jessica back with him, I could just take Aleah back to my place tonight. It'd be easier to contain her little episode if there weren't any witnesses to her coming back down in a couple of hours.

Carter stood up straight to light a cigarette, digging for his pack. "Just makin sure I'm not stepping on any toes Juice. I don't want trouble. She seems like a nice girl."

"Nice isn't how I'd describe her." I snorted watching Aleah bouncing to the beat of the music, her skin starting to gleam with sweat. "But hey, whatever you wanna do. I've got no claim on her or the club."

"Good. Think its time for us to get out of here then." Carter grinned at me looking almost gleeful to be taking the blonde with him. "See you at work."

"See you at work." I echoed him watching him pull the two apart whispering to Jessica while she nodded leaning against him. Part of me felt bad letting my girlfriends drunk friend leave with a guy I barely knew, but the other part told me I had bigger problems to take care of tonight. I motioned for Aleah to come to me and after a argument I got her in the Fusion to go back to my place.

Aleah couldn't sit still the entire ride home. Her hands were everywhere on me, my thighs, my neck, my cock. "Baby, did you make me leave so we could be alone?" She purred into my ear.

I couldn't help but laugh at her. High Aleah was way different than sober Aleah. Sober Aleah would never be unbuttoning my pants right now. "Mmmm. Maybe. Depends on how you act."

I had rules about girls that were using something. Alcohol or drugs. I didn't fuck them even if they begged for it. I knew there a good chance we'd be messing around even without the drugs but I didn't want to take advantage over how sexual she'd turned either. I pushed her hands away from my already hard cock feeling like I was punishing myself. "Save it for when we get to my place." I told her pulling in the driveway.

Aleah was out of the car in a flash racing up my walkway. I fixed my pants before I got out of the car and unlocked the door watching as she started slipping out of her dress. "Fuck me." I muttered my eyes hugging onto her almost naked body. The only thing covering her was a little pair of white panties with cherries on them. No bra.

"I'm hot." She complained pulling her hair back fanning herself. "You're wearing too many clothes Juan Carlos."

This was going to be a difficult night. I pushed her hands that were tugging on my shirt trying to get it off. "Why don't we get a shower?" I suggested thinking the water might help end her high. First time always lasted a while, and I knew she'd probably feel like shit in the morning.

"What happened to Jessica?" Aleah asked suddenly realizing we didn't have our cock block with us. "Did you leave her?"

"Nope. She went home with a very nice man." I smirked turning away from her. "Don't worry, he'll be nice to her."

Aleah's arms wrapped around my stomach, touching my muscles through the shirt from behind me. I kept on removing my rings one by one dropping them onto the dresser top. "Why don't you be nice to me?" She suggested.

By now, I was so hard it hurt. "I don't think so. Not tonight." I told her prying her wandering fingers off of me again. "Maybe tomorrow."

"There a reason you don't want to fuck me?" Aleah whispered her hands back on me, touching my hips now. "C'mon Juice."

I shut my eyes for a moment trying to resist the feel of her naked chest pressed on my back. "You're high." I reminded her letting her hands finally dip into my pants. I relaxed a little when she grazed my balls. "You might not want to have sex with me when you're high."

"I trust you." Aleah whispered into my ear pulling her hands back out slowly, touching my shoulders now. "You won't do anything to me."

_Fuck it _I thought to myself moving her hands and turning around to grab her up in my arms. I tossed her on my bed getting on top of her kissing down her neck. I'd blame the alcohol. "I think I like you like this." I told her getting loud moans when I pressed myself against her.

Aleah pushed her tongue into mouth kissing me hard while she explored. I knew no way in hell was I stopping when I felt her bite down on my bottom lip. Her fingers pinched at my nipple through my shirt, something she'd never done before. I groaned into her mouth clutching her head. "Fuck Lee."

I moved far enough away from her to remove my shirt, her hands were unzipping my pants quickly. I kicked them off along with my boxers glad I'd already taken off my boots when we got here. Aleah started to slide to the edge of the bed, I knew what she was going for and stopped her. It wouldn't take much for me get off right now and I didn't want this to suck for her. Instead I shoved her back roughly into the fluffy comforter and moved between her thighs biting at the fabric of her cherry covered panties.

She sat up partway, leaning on her elbows watching me kissing each thigh then bite it. I did this a few times teasing her before I yanked the only piece of cloth stopping me from doing more. I watched her face when I licked with my tongue flat against her folds still trying to tease her. She whimpered and tried to move her legs further apart. I grabbed onto each one holding her still while I went to work.

I used my thumb to part her just barely touching her then I sucked on her clit hard. " .god!" Aleah whined her hand petting at my Mohawk. I twirled my fingers around keeping the suction while I pressed my thumbs inside of her. "God… god… god…" She was holding my head in a tight grip.

I let go of her legs to pull her hands off my head dipping my tongue into her warmth again with an in and out motion. "Please" Aleah whispered sounding like she was covering her face with a pillow now. I did it a few more times before I went back to her clit, it only took three twirls with my tongue before her nails were digging into my shoulders breaking the skin.

"Yes!" She exclaimed her hips bucking in an upward motion while she writhed around holding onto me. "Come here, come here now." She ordered releasing her grip.

I climbed on top of her rubbing the tip of my cock against her a few times before I pushed in roughly. She felt better than ever, like warm silk or something. I tried to start out slow but after two weeks of pure agony and being horny as fuck I didn't have it in me. Aleah was moaning trying to move with my body but it just wasn't possible. I pounded into her a few more times before my own release happened with her wrapping her legs around my hips tightly holding me inside of her.

"Amazing." Aleah sighed kissing me still keeping her legs around me. "Let's do it again."

I laughed rolling onto my side pulling her with me. "In a few babe. You're with an old man remember?" I ran a hand her side feeling the dip of her stomach going into her hips. Perfectly curvy.

Aleah just grinned kissing my chest with tiny kisses. "Ready?"

The rest of the night was pretty much us screwing around until around 5am, I couldn't take her high anymore. I gave her some pills to wear her down until she finally fell asleep around 6, her small body flushed and sweaty still. I threw the blanket over her going to sleep myself knowing I had to be up in a couple of hours. I held her against me falling into a deep asleep for what felt like hours but when the phone started ringing, I realized it was only 8.

"Yeah?" I mumbled into the phone not even reading who it was.

"Chapel in an hour." Bobby told me sounding too cheerful.

"Mmmhmm." I replied snapping the phone shut and rolling back over to wrap my arms around Aleah. This was the first time she'd ever actually slept over on purpose. Not counting the time we'd passed out on the couch.

I laid there for as long as I could before I went to take a shower, I knew I reeked of beer, weed, and sex. I was shaving my head around my Mohawk when Aleah stumbled in not saying a word before she leaned over and puked. "Shit… are you ok baby?" I leaned over holding her hair back while she heaved.

"I don't feel good." She whispered taking the damp washcloth I held out to her to wipe her face with.

"Probably just the beer." I helped her back up pushing her towards the shower. "Take a shower then we gotta go. My bikes still at the house."

Aleah nodded letting me get her in the shower, holding still while I bathed her then made a sad ass attempt at trying to brush her hair. She smiled a little finishing getting ready by herself before we left. I knew we were in trouble the minute we pulled in her driveway and Clay was still there, sitting on his bike parked across from mine.

"I'll see you later babe." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking over to Clay. Aleah just waved to him before heading inside her house. "Morning." I called to him.

Clay nodded at me pushing his shades up watching me put my helmet on. "Wild night huh? Funny, I remember my wife having a party for my daughter. Then the daughter somehow disappeared. Ditching the wife."

"I'm sorry man. She didn't want to come back. Then she had a few drinks and I just figured it was easier to let her sleep it off." I was half ass telling the truth, just leaving out a few bits and pieces. "Won't happen again."

"I know it won't happen again. Because anyone who lives under my roof has to be under it by 2am no matter how old they are." He replied before kicking his bike up taking off.

Burn. By my girlfriends dad. My boss.

Aleah's POV

I felt horrible. I had no idea what the hell I was thinking when I did those lines of coke at the party. Actually I did know what I was thinking, I was thinking I needed to loosen up. I got a little too loose last night. I hid away in my room most of the day until Jessica sauntered in eating what looked like leftover pigs in a blanket.

"How are you even eating those?" I groaned rolling away from the plate when she sat down on the bed beside me.

"I'm starving. I tried calling you to get lunch but your phone must be dead." Jessica leaned back against the headboard munching away. "Gemma was leaving so I let myself in."

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of lunch. Either the coke or the alcohol had me feeling like shit. Maybe the combo. "No thanks. Where'd you end up at last night anyways? All Juice said was you went home with some guy."

"Mmm. Yeah. Carter, he works at the garage remember? He was pretty nice." Jessica's eyes lit up mentioning him. "We went back to his place. He lives over at those Windsor estate housing things, it was small but it was just us there."

"You had a one nighter?" I laughed out loud, only my boyfriend would send my best friend off for random sex with a stranger.

Jessica laughed too, setting her plate down on the night stand beside the bed, licking her fingers. "No! We just kissed, talked a little bit. Carter was a really nice guy. He took me home this morning before he went to work."

I sat up leaning on the headboard with her grinning. Maybe Jess had finally lucked out. "Oh yeah? Maybe Juice was on to something then."

"I think the only thing Juice was trying to achieve last night was getting his dick sucked." Jessica laughed, then laughed even harder at the blush on my face. "You were feelin pretty good last night if I remember right."

I grabbed a pillow smacking her with it laughing with her. "Shut up. Its not always physical with us." _Well, mostly _I thought to myself. "Shouldn't you be at school today?"

She shrugged her shoulders carelessly getting comfortable in the bed with me. "Nope. I quit. I missed too much while I was in the hospital anyways. I'll get my GED or something. Luann offered me a job, starting next week. I talked to her last night about it before we left."

Luann the porn diva could only be offering my best friend a job doing one thing. "Are you serious? You're going to do THAT?" I asked her in disbelief.

"It pays good, and I like sex. So I figured why not?" Jessica said a little nonchalantly. "Mom wants me out of the house by the end of the month too. Gemma said I could come here but I'm tired of bumming off your family."

"I start school in a couple of weeks." I sighed wishing I didn't have to go. It was just a nursing program but I hated to go to school after finally finishing. "I wish I could find something that pays enough for me to move out too."

Jess flipped the TV on channel surfing, clearly not leaving anytime soon. "You might. Then we could be roommates. Unless you're wanting to move in with the Puerto Rican dreamboat."

I snorted knowing that wasn't even an option yet. We were in no way close to being on that level. "I don't think so. Juice is pretty private."

"I heard Mama Gemma on the phone, she said Ope will be out soon."

I nodded thinking of my adopted brother being locked away for so long now. It'd been a while since I helped Donna with the kids I needed to call and see if she could use a sitter. "Yeah. January he'll be a free man."

"Cool. Maybe we'll get invited to the party."

"Maybe. I'm sure I can go with Juice, I guess I should get up and give him a call." I crawled out of the bed to search my phone. "Where was Gemma going?"

"Oh I think the garage. Someone screwed up something big time. She was pissed with whoever she was talking to."

Good. That meant I had all day to be hung over in peace.

**I'm not going for a Mary Sue thing here, but I am taking a darker direction with the fic in the coming chapters. I hope you all liked Carter, he's probably my favorite OC that I've ever created and he'll be in more and more chapters after this. **


	11. Chapter 11

**AN- Loved getting your reviews :D thanks for taking the time to leave me a few lines. Means a lot. **

**This isn't one of my favorite chapters, but well.. I needed a few things in it. So please forgive for the slowness in this one. **

**Thanks to Jessica as always for her help on this story and congrats on turning into a Kozik fan with me :D :P **

I do not own Sons of Anarchy

Chapter 11 Bringin in the New Year

Christmas was fun this year. The house had been full of the club members, some of them brought their families with them for Mom's big Christmas party. Wendy even showed up with her baby bump hidden in an oversized shirt and stretchy pants. Jax wasn't big on bringing her, but Mom insisted. I knew it was more of a way for her to make sure Wendy was straight while she pregnant then her being in the Christmas spirit.

I'd gotten Juice a few framed movie posters for Transformers, Star Wars, and a couple of X-box games I knew he'd been wanting. Nothing too romantic for my geeky boyfriend. He told me he had a present for me too but I had to promise if I didn't like it I'd give it back to him and let him buy something else. It kinda had me worried. Mom and Dad gave me gift cards to a few of my favorite stores, perfume, and a few other things. Dad was still milking the car as a part Christmas gift since he was such a cheap ass.

"Okay. I'm going to get your present. Shut your eyes ok?" Juice told me his brown eyes looking excited. He told me a few days ago that he never had a big Christmas like this even when he was growing up.

"Fine. But you better not drop your pants in here." I joked looking around at everyone laughing and drinking. I squeezed my eyes shut waiting patiently on my spot on the couch for him to get back.

I could hear a few people saying "Awww look. Where'd you get it from Juice?" and fought the urge to peek until Juice took my hand placing it on something warm, fuzzy, and wiggly. My eyes flew open excitedly. "Juice! I've always wanted one!" I scooped the adorable smoosh faced pug from his arms into mine hugging him. "He's adorable!"

Juice gave me a peck on the forehead earning a few snickers from the guys. "I can take him back if you don't want him Lee." He started to pull the puppy back from me.

I popped his hands away laughing as the puppy licked my face. "What's his name?"

"Doesn't have one yet. I think the kids I bought him from were calling him Fuzzy or something." He reached over petting his puppy behind his ears.

"Gizmo. He'll be a perfect Gizmo." I decided setting the puppy down on the carpet getting a look from Mom. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him." I told her smiling as the few kids that were over started playing a chase game with him.

Juice slid a hand on my thigh, squeezing it a little. "Glad you liked him. I didn't know what else to get. I bought him a kennel and stuff too, but its at my house. He's been in my laundry room all day howling his head off."

I leaned up and kissed him softly on his lips, tasting the eggnog he'd been sipping on since he got here. "I love him. Thank you."

He nodded getting down on the floor with the kids playing with the puppy for a while until the crowd thinned out, leaving just us and my parents. Jax was carrying Wendy's bag of leftovers to her car, Mom had insisted on packing her up some stuff. It was no secret that we were all dropping in to check up on her when we brought her groceries over.

After we helped clean up the mess we headed over to his place with Gizmo cruising in the floorboard of the car so I could get the puppy supplies from him. I took Gizmo with me everywhere that I could including the shop. I tied him up on a long runner so he could come in and out of the office as he pleased. He was a big hit with the mechanics too, especially Carter. Jess had mentioned they'd went out on a couple of dates since the party a couple of weeks ago. He was a pretty nice guy, too well mannered to be hanging out around the MC.

According to Jess after knowing her for two weeks he'd given her a very pretty rose petal bracelet for Christmas. The most expensive gift she'd ever received and she was in love. Juice was out on a run with the guys saying he'd be back on New Years Eve which was tomorrow, he'd been gone for two days so far and I didn't like it one bit. He'd text a few times here and there, not able to call out. But I wanted to see him, we'd been spending a lot of time together since Thanksgiving and it just felt strange not to be at his house every night.

I really wanted to spend time with him before my first semester of college started in a few days too. I knew once I started my nursing program I'd be slammed between that and working here at the garage two days instead of one. I worked alone most of the day, filing invoices until the new Prospect came inside the office.

"Um, Carter said to ask you if it was okay to go to lunch since Clay's gone and the other guys are out now too." Half Sack stuttered nervous as hell.

I gave him a small smile trying to put him a little more at ease. "Sure. Just don't take too long, I don't know what Dad has told you to do but I don't see why you can't grab something to eat."

Half Sack gave me a shaky smile putting his broom down in the corner. "Thanks… Aleah?" He lifted the end of the sentence into a question.

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm sorry. You're Kip right?" I tried to remember what John and Lowell had called the scrawny boy in front of me.

"Half Sack. But you can call me Kip if you'd rather." He grinned at me holding his hand out. "You want anything while I'm out?"

I nodded grabbing my wallet out of the oversized leather Coach bag Gemma had given me for Christmas. Wendy had got one in a different color, and Jess. "Sure. Chicken something will work." I handed him a few bills and he was on his way.

A few minutes went by before the phone rang to the office, I sighed loudly hating to stop my work flow to answer it. "Teller-Morrow, Aleah speaking." I answered as politely as possible.

"What are you doing baby?" Juice's voice came out at me.

I leaned back in the chair, twirling the phone cord around my fingers. "Working. Missing you a little bit. What are you doing?"

"We stopped for some sleep, we're in Tucson." Juice yawned into my ear, he did sound exhausted. "Been a rough ride."

I could hear people in the background talking, laughing, the sound of rock music. "Will you be home in the morning?"

"I'll be there in a minute." He told someone his voice sounding muffled like he had his hand over the voice. "I'm talking to my girl."

"Sure thing, Juicy baby." I heard a woman say back to him flintily. "I'll wait for you handsome."

I froze, my heart pounding. What the fuck was he doing? "Who was that?" I demanded sitting straight up. I so wasn't dealing with this shit.

Juice laughed softly making me angrier. "A crow eater. She's making us some chow is all. Not what you're thinking."

I didn't know if I believed him or not. I knew what these guys did away from home. "Promise?" I asked still sitting straight up. I felt like jumping in the car and going to Tucson to check on him.

"Hey Aleah, they were out of chicken sandwiches so I just grabbed you a fish one." Half Sack said loudly coming the office with a bag from the diner up the street. "I got you a Coke too."

"Who was that?" Juice asked this time sounding put off. "Who's buying you lunch?"

I smirked, glad to give him a taste of his own medicine. "Just one of the guys. Not what you're thinking." I threw back at him. "Thanks, why don't you eat with me?" I said to Half Sack careful not to use his name.

Half Sack grinned back at me ,nodding pulling up one of the chairs to the desk unwrapping what looked like a veggie sandwich with fries.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Juice sighed his voice going from tired to irritated. "Don't fuck with me ok?"

"I'm not. Don't fuck with me." I snapped back not liking the way this conversation was going. "I'll let you get back to fucking whores." I slammed the phone down on him.

Half Sack looked at me warily, like he wasn't sure if he should speak or not. "You ok?" He finally asked.

I nodded opening up a few ketchup packs to dowse my sandwich in. "Yeah. Just an asshole boyfriend."

"Must be a real dick."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you. How'd you get the name Half Sack anyways?" I asked curious about the story behind it.

He stood up unbuttoning his pants quickly. "Whoa! Keep it in your pants!" I exclaimed covering my eyes.

"No, I was just gonna show you. I blown up in Iraq, lost a nut." He explained sheepishly fixing his pants.

"Sack, I'd keep those pants on if you want to keep that other nut." Carter laughed coming inside the office. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. "Brought you some more paperwork."

"Joy." I rolled my eyes taking the stack from him. "You coming to the party tomorrow night?" I knew the hang rounds and mechanics were all invited.

Carter shrugged stealing one of my fries. "I might. Gotta see what Jess wants to do."

"Aren't you two just the happy couple?" I grumbled my bad mood seeping out. Carter and Half Sack exchanged shrugs before he took off back to the garage. I kept my bad mood for the rest of the day, ignoring any calls from Juice. He finally took the hint around 8 when I'd left the garage and was back at home getting my stuff ready for the party tomorrow night.

Mom got me up early, I had been volunteered to help her change the sheets on the beds at the clubhouse since it was a safe bet every room would be occupied tonight. I was halfway through cleaning out Jax's pigsty for him when I heard the loud talking and guffawing telling me the guys were back in town. I turned my head to look over my shoulder when I heard Jax coming in the room looking wrinkled and tired.

"Hey sis." He flopped down on the lumpy bed letting his feet hang off the end. "You didn't have to pick up in here."

"Mom made me. It was pretty gross." I told him tying up the bag of trash I'd cleared out. "Changed your sheets too. I got your clothes in the car to wash for you."

Jax gave me a lazy grin folding his arms up behind his head. "Thanks. Your old man's out front. He's been a dick since we left."

"No problem. And he's not my old man, just a boyfriend." I reminded him dragging the bag of trash out behind me as I left the room shutting the door behind me.

Juice was standing propped up against the bar talking with Bobby and Kozik when I came in handing the bag of garbage over to Half Sack. "Here Kip, take this out if you don't mind."

He nodded hopping to it automatically. I placed the dirty glasses I'd taken from Jax's room in the sink behind the bar counter. If Juice couldn't speak, neither could I. I felt his eyes on me when I headed back down the hall to another one of the room to put the freshly washed sheets on the bed of the last room of the day before I could go home.

"So you just gonna ignore me like a bitch all day or what?" Juice's voice spoke from the doorway.

"If you keep talking to me like that, yes." I replied curtly moving around to tuck the corners of the sheet in.

Juice sighed walking past me to sit on the end of the bed I'd literally just made up. His white SAMCRO shirt was rumpled and dirty and his jeans were pretty filthy too. "I didn't even do anything for you to be pissy with me about. I ate dinner that a clubhouse crow eater made."

I snorted knowing there was a good chance I'd never know if that really it or not. "Sure…. Handsome." I copped throwing in the word the lady had used to describe him. "And all I did was eat lunch with a friend."

"What friend?" Juice asked his eyes narrowing down giving me a look. The jealousy he was feeling was coming off of him so thick I could have cut it with a knife.

"Half Sack, if you must know everything I do." I snapped crossing my arms over my chest. "And I don't think you need to. I don't know everything you do."

Juice stood up, his height easily towered mine, and took a step towards me. "Yeah I do need to know everything you do. That's how this works. You're with me, you answer to me. I don't have to tell you shit."

Wow. This macho talk had to be some bullshit the guys had fed him while they were gone. "Whatever Juice. I'm allowed to have friends." I glared up at him not liking this side of Juice at all.

"And I'm allowed to eat dinner. Or ask who you're with. Or what you're doing." Juice told me daring to reach over and rub my still crossed arms. "You coming home with me?"

I gave him another glare before nodding, I hated to give in this easy to him but hated to fight. "I'll be over as soon as I get ready." I uncrossed my arms to wrap them around his middle. "I have to get a shower and get some stuff together. I thought I'd sleep over with you tonight."

He reluctantly nodded in agreement slowly wrapping his arms back around me too. "Works for me. Come over early. I picked something up for you from Jeff." He released me from our embrace walking towards the door. I spoke just as he was making it through.

"Hey Carlos? Sorry." I apologized not liking to be the first to say the words.

"Yeah. Yeah me too." Was all he said before he left.

I finished up, throwing my filthy gloves in the trash on my way out. An older crow eater with bright blonde hair was starting to get the bar ready, most of the guys had went home to sleep some before the bash. She gave me a sour look as I walked by that I just ignored. Confrontation and fighting wasn't my style.

A couple of hours later I was dressed in a slinky silver top paired with black skinny jeans and a pair of stilettos when I made it to the clubhouse again. Juice had sent me a message saying to just meet him here. People were already crawling everywhere, hang arounds, crow eaters, and bikers. I looked around for Juice as I made my way through towards Mom spotting her talking to Luann and a lady I didn't recognize.

"Hey sweetheart." Mom hugged me when I made it over. She had on her own tight black outfit for the night, a joint in her hand.

I hugged her back then Luann. "Have you saw Juice? I didn't see him when I came in." I scanned the crowd again. Metallica was blasting from the sound system so I had to talk a little bit loud over it.

"I think he's in his room. They just had chapel." Luann told me her nails looked like claws on her glass. "Your little friend will be here soon. She's working out great."

I grinned shaking my head at the thought of Jess's first few days at work. Carter was sulking about it, he'd tried to talk to me a few times about it. "Hey whatever works for her. I'm just glad its working out."

I could make out Jax at the pool table playing against Happy, crow eaters were everywhere around the two of them. I tried not to make a face when I saw the barely there clothes they had and the caked on make up. Dad was with Bobby puffing away on a cigar, he gave me a small wave when I caught his eye. I waved back looking around again for Juice.

"Don't hover over him." Mom spoke up dragging off her joint. "He won't like that."

Luann nodded in agreement sipping on her drink. I could smell the Jack Daniels from two foot away. "Just watch yourself girl. I don't think anyone here knows who you're with."

I watched as Juice appeared going to the bar for a drink. The blonde crow eater leaned down to him talking in his ear. He laughed at whatever she told him before leaning to whisper back. She grinned at him before sliding a glass over to him. I saw Carter sitting down beside him bumming a cigarette while they chatted.

"Hey girl." Jessica's voice topped over the metal music. "Partys here.!"

I turned grinning at her fighting back a laugh when I saw how she was dressed. "Hey! Carter said he didn't know if you were coming!" I hugged her taking in all the skin she was showing off in her teeny tiny outfit. The women were already throwing dirty looks her way.

"Hell yeah I'm here. I'm the entertainment." She winked at me then Luann. "My boss booked me a gig for SAMCRO. Wanted some high class tail up on that pole tonight."

Gemma shook her head tossing Luann a dirty look. "You booked my daughters friend to strip for Clay?" She asked in a voice that said she wasn't happy about this one bit.

"I didn't think it mattered." Luann said grabbing Jess's hand. "C'mon baby, lets get that trash down and you up there." To Gemma she said as an after thought. "She needed the cash Gem, and Jax said he's paying top dollar for something young and fresh."

Carter spotted us, nudging Juice in the ribs. Juice swiveled on his stool peering over at me before he got up heading our way. Jess was climbing up onto the pole already getting whistles. "I'll be back." Mom sighed walking off.

"Hey babe." The blonde haired biker that had fought with Juice was in front of me flashing a bright white smile at me. "You look lost from the daycare."

I couldn't remember his name. I knew he used to be SAMCRO but that didn't mean much. "Is that a compliment?" I laughed shaking my head when he offered me a cigarette.

"Could be. I'm Kozik." He held his hand out. "Why don't we go somewhere we can hear each other talk at?"

"Where've you been ? I thought you'd be here an hour ago." Juice spoke pushing past Kozik to wrap his arms around me.

I didn't kiss him, I waited for him to kiss me first instead trying not to be all over him in front of the guys. "I've been here a while. I was talking to Luann and Mom."

"Gemma's your mom?" Kozik asked his eyes widening. "Shit…" He looked me over again, his eyes lingering on my cleavage.

"Yeah. Clay's her dad. Jax is her brother. And she's my girl." Juice told him giving me a small kiss on the lips. "C'mon Lee, lets bring the new year in on a high note."

I gave Kozik an apologetic smile letting Juice pull me away from the party, into his room at the end of the hallway. I'd got a glimpse of Jess swinging her long legs around the silver stripper pole with the guys ogling. Juice shut the door to the room before he kissed me again, harder this time. "Don't talk to Kozik." He whispered resting his forehead against mine. "I don't like the way he was looking at you."

I nodded giving him another kiss before he pulled away going to his computer desk. He unlocked the bottom drawer that he'd told me before he kept his weed, money, and anything else he didn't want messed with in. He pulled out a familiar baggy for me to see. "Jeff made me a good deal on this. New Year's special. Thought you'd be interested."

Juice opened it up pouring out a little bit lining it up with his debit card. "I don't know Juice, last time I felt like shit." I reasoned watching him closely. I wanted to say no but I wanted to be a better mood than I had been the past few days. This was one hell of a way to bond as a couple.

"You don't have to do any." He told me shrugging carelessly. "I'll give it to Tig or Bobby."

I watched as he snorted his line biting my bottom lip when he started to slide the powder back into the baggy careful not to spill. "No. Wait."

"You sure?" He asked looking into my eyes to see if I really was sure. "Here."

I did my line automatically hacking like I did last time when I felt the ball in the back of my throat from it. "We better get back out there."

"C'mon baby, I'll show you how Sons ring it in." He joked sliding an arm around my waist when we made it back out to the party.

It was even more packed if that was possible. A few members of the Grim Bastards had arrived with a few girls of their own. Bobby was sitting on the low black leather couch with two skanks on either side of him. Chibs, to my disgust, was ogling at Jessica in nothing but her g-string dancing. A very pissed off Carter was sitting as close as he could to the pole. "Look Juice." I nudged him.

He glanced over making a face when he spotted Jessica. "Eww…. Nooo.." He groaned out loud. "I need a drink now."

"You old enough to drink kid?" The blonde that'd been eyeing me earlier asked me when she handed Juice a beer.

"Just give her a drink Trix." Juice ordered her giving her a look. "She's with me."

The woman returned the dirty look to Juice before handing me a beer grudgingly. I watched her trudge back down the line, trying to help poor Half Sack catch back up. I could feel my high starting, the numbness in my sinuses was familiar. I could tell Juice was starting to feel it too from the way he rubbed his face. I gulped on my beer looking around again. My first Sons bash and I was already high as hell two hours into it.

We wandered around with Juice's hand in the back pocket of my jeans laughing loudly with each other until we found ourselves with Tig, Happy, Kozik, and a few crow eaters passing a joint around the corner they were playing pool in. "I was starting to wonder he was ashamed to be seen out in public with you or something kid." Tig smirked making his shot.

"Didn't want to bring her around all the old perverts actually." Juice shot off getting the finger from Tig in response. "She's used to us nice guys."

Laughter broke out from all the guys in ear shot of Juice. He grinned leaning over to give me a kiss and a smack on the ass before lining up his next shot. "Would you mind grabbing me a Jack and Coke Lee?"

"What do I look like? A waitress?" I joked heading towards the bar.

I tapped my nails on the filthy wood waiting for Half Sack to get to me, he'd nodded showing me he'd be over in a moment. I turned putting my arms out to lean back surveying the crowd. My heart was pounding in my chest but I was trying to keep it together as much as I could. I felt someone touch my arm and turned around to see the blonde Juice called Trix looking at me questioningly. "What you want girl?"

"Juice wants a Jack and Coke. Actually make that two." I decided spur of the moment. "Thanks."

She studied me grabbing the glasses and pouring the liquids into them. "You Juice's Old Lady?"

I shook my head quickly, no way was I even close to being an Old Lady anytime soon. "Nope. Just his girlfriend."

Trixie smirked pushing the drinks to me so hard some spilled over the edge of the glasses. "Thought so." she turned and walked away going to the next person.

I grabbed the glasses and headed back over to Juice, he was sitting on a lone stool watching the other two guys play each other now. "Here baby." I handed him one.

He raised an eyebrow at mine sipping on his own before he set it down on the tiny table behind us. He pulled me towards him, holding onto both of my hands while he kissed me. I closed my eyes forgetting where we were even though the music was deafening and didn't stop him when he kissed my neck. He let go of my hands, letting me run them over his Mohawk before we got interrupted.

"Keep pawing at my little sister like that, and we're going to have a big problem Juice." Jax said breaking us apart from our moment.

Juice didn't let go of me completely, he just gave Jax a goofy grin standing up from his perch and tripping when he did. And that's where our highs were at their peak. I was downing drinks feeling like my mouth was a desert, Juice was getting goofier by the minute, and we couldn't keep our hands off of each other. Even while we were waiting for Half Sack to pour us more Jack, Juice's hands were in the waist of my jeans his body pressed against mine. I didn't help by touching his flesh underneath his cut and shirt every chance I got either. I could give a fuck who was looking at us and got pissed at this point.

"Ye look a bit different tonight girly." Chibs told me looking at my outfit with a shake of his head. "No more little girl clothes eh?"

I laughed loudly pulling on my tight silver shirt. I didn't know what I'd been thinking when I used one of the gift cards I'd got for Christmas to buy it. "Nope. Thought Juice would appreciate it if I grew up."

Chibs smirked drawing off of his cigarette. "Long as he doesn't make you grow up _too _much." The sweet butt with him whispered in his ear getting his attention back. "I'll see ye later darlin."

I waved him off going to track Juice down again, we'd lost each other a couple of times. It was almost midnight, I was ready to kiss him and get the hell out of here to enjoy this together. I wandered past a few of the crow eaters that were gathered up talking and gave them a small smile. All I got back was a few dirty looks, not that I was surprised.

Dad caught me eye, beckoning me over to him where he was talking to a few of the old guys I recognized as Quinn, Donut, and Gravy. "What are you doing baby girl?"

I gave him a grin trying to keep myself as straight as possible. "Just grabbing Juice a drink. Checking things out."

To the men around him he said. "This is my daughter Aleah." He puffed on his cigar his own drink in the other hand.

"Was wondering how the kid had picked up the hottest thing in the room." Quinn winked at me, I knew it was more to get a rise out of Dad than hitting on me.

Dad pointed his finger at him. "You my friend, are a sick man. You could be her grandpa."

"Juice ain't getting any younger." Donut laughed elbowing Gravy in the ribs. "How you been sweetheart?"

I smiled at them trying not to show I was ready to take off and find my man. "Good. Just getting by." I took a sip from the glass, my sixth drink of the night.

"Why don't you slow it down a little?" Dad suggested looking at the half empty glass. "Saw you had a few already. Juice is gonna be a busy man in the morning if you don't."

"I'm fine. I better get back over there." I nodded to the men. "See ya around." I took off before he could say anything, feeling self conscious for the first time since the coke had hit me.

"The whores don't like me." I whispered into Juice's ear once I found him standing around with Jax, Kozik, and a few other guys I didn't recognize.

"They're jealous." Juice laughed handing me his drink. I'd already had to pull my hair back into a pony tail from sweating so much. "Cause you look… extremely fuckable tonight."

Jax popped him on the chest throwing his dirty look to Juice. "I'm standing right here douche."

I was bouncing off the walls. I couldn't keep this low key anymore I was moving around again, telling Juice I needed more to drink. I took off again stopping to cheer Jess on on her strip tease. Happy seemed to like it, he was leaned against the wall watching her closely, but it was hard to tell since his face was stone like. By the time I grabbed more drinks and found Juice I'd lost him for almost an hour. "God I missed you already." I went up behind Juice hugging him slipping my hands onto his hips while he was talking animatedly to Luann about her camera equipment.

"How much have you two kids had to drink?" Luann asked curiously watching us go in for another embrace laughing and stumbling.

Juice just shrugged brushing her off, for once I was happy he could pull rank on the females. "What's it to you?" His fingers brushed my stomach under my shirt. "You ready to get out of here when that ball drops?"

I nodded noticing how much his pupils were dilated for the first time. "We have one minute. Then I can focus on your balls." I hugged up on him, loving the smell of Jack and cigarettes mixed with his leather. He'd been chain smoking as soon as we started drinking.

"You know they say whatever you're doing at midnight is what you'll be doing for the entire year." Juice grinned sexily down at me rubbing my hips under the clothes. "Five seconds."

"Hope its true then." I replied flashing a grin back at him.

Everyone in the clubhouse counted down the last few seconds together, shouting "Happy New Year!" while we all grabbed onto someone to kiss.

_Damn_ was all I could process when Juice pushed his mouth roughly onto mine. His tongue was in my mouth while his hands slipped down to grab on my ass again. "Let's go." I managed to get out between kisses.

I didn't have to tell him twice. He grabbed me and started pushing me down the hall. As much as I hated to go into the room I was sure he'd fucked a hundred sweet butts in, neither of us were in any shape to drive home. We stayed in the room with the door locked for hours, I did a couple more lines not ready to sleep yet while Juice snored next to me in the bed. I was just starting to come down around 9 the next morning when I felt comfortable enough to put Juice's shirt and my jeans on to sneak out for some of the coffee I could smell brewing.

I crept past the still sleeping bodies into the kitchen. I grabbed the coffee pot pouring two mugs adding in sugar. Juice liked it with just one scoop, I loved mine with about ten. "Fun night?" Mom spoke from behind me.

I kept my back to her groaning inwardly at being in this situation. "Yeah. Yeah it was fun."

"How's the hangover?" She sat down at the flimsy table clearly feeling fine herself.

"Hasn't hit me yet. We just went to bed a couple of hours ago." I could tell by the way my stomach felt it was coming, it was uneasy and the coke had me feeling gritty and dirty again. As good as it made me feel mentally, physically it made me want a shower.

Mom tapped her fingers on the table studying me. "Better go get some sleep. I'll see you at home."

I nodded taking off back to Juice's room. He woke up when I shut the door, the latch popping into place when I locked it. "Morning." I smiled at him.

He rubbed his eyes yawning loudly before taking the mug I was holding out to him. "Morning. Did you even go to bed yet?"

"Not yet. I will though. I'm starting to feel really worn out. And dirty." Juice cracked a grin at the end. "I need to make a trip to Lodi today, I start school in two days and I haven't bought any of my books."

"I'll go with you, I'll see what's happening around here." He offered taking my hand to rub his thumb across the top.

I smiled scooting closer to him, sitting crossed legged beside him. "Sounds good to me. I wanted to spend as much together as we could before I start. I don't know how crazy it'll be."

Juice twisted, putting his mug on the table beside the bed. "Me too. I'm glad you came last night, meant a lot to me getting to be together in front of everyone like that. I think Jax might kill me though."

We laughed the memories of our night coming back to us. The hands all over, the kissing, the angry Dad and brother. It was unbelievable that two months ago we were sneaking around. "I guess we did get outta hand didn't we?"

"A little. Its okay, at least the guys know you're definitely mine now." Juice grinned at me. "And I think the sweet butts know I'm with you too."

"Possessive much?" I giggled moving to straddle his hips. "I'm not going anywhere baby."

"I wasn't planning on letting you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for your reviews, follows, and hits on my traffic stats! It amazes me still that I am getting 1000 hits when I post a new chapter, its almost as good as getting all of your reviews. I appreciate all of the, including my guest reviewers. **

**This chapter is really long, but it covers a lot. Now starts the toxic combination of lovers lol, don't hate me too much :P :P Give credit to Jessica1018 for all of our her help in this fic, she is truly amazing to work with you guys wouldn't believe how much time we invest in this fic. **

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Chapter 12 Can't say no to that one

College wasn't bad at all. I was loving my classes so far, they were interesting. I really loved doing clinicals, getting to work with the nurses at St. Thomas. It was fun getting the hands on training, moving from floor to floor to experience it all. I was tired though. Between school, working at the garage, and Juice ,I hardly had a moment to breathe.

I yawned quietly to myself, sitting back in the desk chair in the garage, deciding a little break wouldn't hurt. The guys were out taking care of something, the mechanics were working, and Half Sack would wake me up if anyone needed anything. I pulled my sweater over myself shutting my eyes, drifting off. I had no clue how long I'd been out when I felt someone shaking me.

"Lee, get up baby. C'mon." Juice whispered into my ear his warm hand on my cheek. "Let's get out of here if you can't stay awake."

My eyes opened up slowly, noting Chibs and Tig watching me from the doorway. "I'm fine. Just… dozed off." I wiped under my eyes for eyeliner carefully not wanting raccoon face. "Just… let me know when you leave."

Juice frowned down at me, he still had his black gloves on and shades. I'd slept through the club pulling back in together. _I must have been really out _I thought to myself. "Can you give us a minute guys?" He glanced over his shoulder at Chibs and Tig.

Chibs hit Tig in the arm showing him to follow him out into the garage. Juice waited until they were far enough they couldn't hear before he spoke. "When's the last time you went to bed Lee?"

I shrugged not looking in his eyes anymore, I started closing up my books to pack away for the day. "Monday." I admitted knowing how bad it sounded.

"Jesus…. You have to get some sleep baby." Juice's hands touched mine, stopping me. "You can't run on nothing."

"I know Juice. I just… I have so much to do lately." I sighed finally meeting his eyes. The concern in his eyes was overwhelming. "I'll sleep tonight. Promise. Maybe even with you if you're lucky."

Juice's face broke out into a sly grin as he cupped my chin giving me a kiss, pressing his mouth flat against mine. "You better. I get lonely."

"Lonely huh? We'll have to get you a dog." I joked knowing full well he took care of Gizmo more than I did now days. I just didn't have the time to care for him on days I had school plus the hospital. Juice was busy too but he was home long to feed, water, and walk the dog if not he brought him to the clubhouse for Half Sack to watch.

"Or a girlfriend that's allowed to sleepover with her boyfriend on school nights." He smirked taking my full bag from me. "I'll put this in your trunk if you're done."

I nodded, I had no intention of doing anymore homework. Wednesdays and Saturdays were my off days from school. "I might run by the store, pick up something to cook tonight if that's okay."

"No, I don't want my girlfriend in my house cooking for me. Are you crazy?" Juice grinned slinging the pink bag over his shoulder.

"Mmmhmmm. I thought we could play some games, eat, sleep?"

He grabbed my keys off of the desk to unlock the car, still grinning. "Works for me. Maybe after eating and before sleeping we could work in some sweet Puerto Rican Magic. If you don't give me food poisoning."

I slid my sweater on over the spaghetti strapped cami I was wearing getting a scowl from him. "We'll see. We might could work something out. If.. ….You go by Jeff's for me." I bit my lip waiting to hear his reaction.

It was mid January by now, and I'd had a few bumps here and there mostly when I needed the energy. I'd had a bump or two on Monday when Opie got released and I needed to be stay awake to see him after school at his welcome back gig. Juice wasn't liking it a bit, but he hadn't refused to pick up for me either. "I don't know Lee, I don't think so." He said softly pushing his shades down back over his eyes. "You need to rest."

"I will. I just need something for tomorrow" I reasoned with him trying my best to look helpless and cute.

Juice didn't answer, he just walked off to my car to drop my books in then went to the clubhouse. I knew he wasn't mad, he was just… upset. He didn't like me using I wasn't stupid, but I didn't see it being an issue either. I was no Wendy. I hung around in the office until Carter came in to tell me he was leaving , it was moving day for Jess. She'd finally started making good money with Luann and got a lease on a nice two bedroom apartment, and a cute silver Mazda she drove like a Nascar driver.

I walked into the clubhouse spotting Juice at a table with his laptop typing away with Jax and Dad as an audience. "What's going on?" I slid into the arm Juice held out slipping onto his lap.

"Point Dexter here is looking up a few old friends for me." Dad cracked his knuckles, his hands must be hurting I realized watching the way he rubbed them. "You headed home?"

"Not yet. I'm going to Juice's for a while." I watched the screen, or tried to, Juice was clicking and exiting things way too fast for me to keep up. "Maybe by Jess's new place."

Jax lit a cigarette from his pack of Newport reds looking grumpy. "I'm out as soon as he's through here. I gotta go check on Wendy."

"Nothin we can do tonight anyways son." Dad told him sharing a hidden message. "We gotta be careful with this."

"Found him." Juice interjected suddenly as the clicking stopped on the screen to focus on one picture. It was a middle aged Mexican man with long hair. "Home address is 1002 Urban Dr, lives with his wife and three kids including the oldest son."

I squinted at the screen, I didn't recognize the man. "Who is he?"

Dad grinned looking a little too happy in my opinion. "An old friend of Opie's from Chino."

So this was the guy they were going to kill. I'd heard about Opie having problems in Chino, mostly from one guy that was in with he Mayans. Juice had told me the Nords had protected Opie the entire time but shit still happened. I was just glad to have Ope back at home, I knew Donna was ecstatic. I'd called to see if she wanted me to watch the kids for her and Opie to go out but she'd said no they were going somewhere as a family. Poor guy had left two babies and came home to half grown children.

"You ready Lee?" Juice shut the laptop moving around me. "I gotta make a stop on my way home."

"Sure. I need to stop too, grab something besides your non processed garbage." I popped off sliding back off of his lap. He'd been on a health kick deciding processed food was bad for you and we should eat clean only. I didn't tell him I had Mcdonalds almost every day for lunch with whatever the hospital caf served for dinner.

I gave Dad and Jax each a quick hug and kiss before I took off. I'd had a license for a week, Juice had made good on his gift card for driving lessons. I was a pretty decent driver, I could get myself where I needed to go but I wouldn't be tackling Sacramento anytime soon. I stopped in at the market grabbing stuff for a stir fry then went to his house. He'd beat me there and was getting out of the shower when I started cooking.

Just when he walked in wearing nothing but a pair of boxers the phone rang. "And of course, our one night home alone." He groaned grabbing his cut and taking it out. "Hey, yeah. On the way."

"Leaving me?" I sighed fixing myself a plate before I sat down at the table.

"Yeah. Emergency." He was in the small laundry room pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. I watched how his muscles moved, loving it. Juice's body never got old.

I picked at the food, not really feeling hungry now. I'd been hoping to eat together while we watched a movie. "Will you be back tonight?"

Juice leaned over and gave me a quick kiss tossing something down on the table that caught my eye. "In a couple of hours. Don't touch that until I get back. I don't want you doing too much or when I'm not here ok?"

"Yes Daddy." I smirked grabbing up the little baggy. He'd gotten more than last time, probably thinking he wouldn't have to get anymore if he bought extra. "I'll wait here."

"Daddy huh? Never got into roleplay but we can give it a try later." He winked slipping his gloves on quickly. "I'll be back."

Juice's POV

Sometimes I really wondered how in the hell Clay expected us to pull some of this shit off. We were surrounding a ranch style house in the middle of hoodville in the middle of the night. The guy we'd been looking for was hiding out inside. Supposedly alone, but we'd see. I crept up on the side of the house with Tig beside me, Clay waving us on. "Cover me brother" Tig hissed before bringing his boot down on the door. A few more kicks and it was busted down.

We swarmed the place, guns out. "Over there!" I shouted spotting the man spring up from behind the sofa making a jump for the door.

I took off at a sprint after him running him down. I pounded on him knocking us both to the dew covered ground. "Juice got him!" I heard someone shouting. I got off of him jerking him up with me.

"Don't even fucking think about taking off again. I have an AK to the back of your head." I said in a calmer voice than I thought possible.

Jax made it over to us first pummeling the guy in the face so hard he fell back down again. Jax kicked him, beating the shit out of him for a few minutes before Chibs shoved him back taking his turn. "This is for Opie Winston." Jax told him pointing the glock he had at him shooting him point blank in the head.

I jumped at the sound, startled by it even though I should have known to expect it. The mans crumpled body lay in front of us. "Now what?" I asked looking up at them.

"Now you and the Prospect bury that useless shit." Clay told me pushing a shell shocked Half Sack forwards. "Make sure its deep. Not real shallow."

I nodded going to the van for shovels. As much as I wanted to argue about doing bitch work I knew better than to push my luck with him. It took me and Sack a while before we were able to shove the body in then fill the hole back up. We were putting the last few scoops on when Clay came back over.

"Aleah at your place?"

"Yeah. Probably sleeping by now. I'll make sure she's up in the morning." I knew I'd have to shake her awake from the way she was dozing off lately. "I'll take care of her."

Clay smirked at me putting his helmet on for the ride back. "You damn well better."

The ride back took us another 45 minutes, making it three hours total I'd been gone. I unlocked the door noting the TV was off and only the light from the bathroom was on. The girl always had to have some sort of light on when she slept over. Like my house was haunted or something. I threw my keys down on the couch and kicked off my boots feeling grateful I'd already had a shower.

I slipped into bed trying to be as quiet as I could but the second my body dipped the mattress down Aleah's eyes opened up sleepily. "Hey baby." I whispered kissing her forehead. "Go back to sleep."

"Mmmmmm. What time is it? I feel like I've been asleep forever." She whispered back, I smiled a little pulling her smaller body against mine. I loved how she felt against me, her skin was soft and warm on mine.

"Its late darlin. Go on back to bed. I didn't want to wake you up." She snuggled her head into my chest, her hands resting on my back. "I'll wake you up in the morning for class ok?"

Aleah nodded, her head doing more a bob than a nod. "'kay. Don't leave again though. I just want to lay here with you."

I smiled to myself listening to her deep breathing resume when she fell back asleep. I rubbed her back in small circles laying there just enjoying holding her like this. I wished like hell I didn't have to wake her up in a couple of hours. She needed the sleep after all the coke she'd been doing. I knew I needed to speak up and say something to her about it, it was starting to become too usual of a thing for her. Every once and a while was okay, but a few times a week was something else completely.

I hated to fight with her over this though, I didn't like her being upset with me. She was the only person I had outside of the club that I could talk to. I didn't want her to get mad and ignore me again like she did at New Years. I had a black mark on me over that too, I lied to her face about the crow eater. It started out as an innocent dinner, but after Aleah pissed me off I'd taken the brunette to the back and got her to blow me. I felt bad over that, I'd never cheated on anyone in my life. I made the guys swear to me before we came back that no one would say shit about it to a single soul.

Aleah shifted in her sleep drawing the dark comforter closer around her, shivering a little. I hugged her tighter, trying to make sure she was warm. She smelled pretty damn good too like vanilla or something. Or cookies. I laid there awake the entire night thinking on things until the alarm on my phone went off at 7am on the dot. I hit silent trying to let her lay there for a few more minutes.

"Juice?" She whispered into my flesh. "Will you tell on me if I stay here and sleep all day?"

"I won't tell. But your Dad might notice your car in my driveway." I smiled pulling away from her. "C'mon, I told him I'd get you up and make sure you went."

Aleah groaned laying there not moving an inch. "Let's call in sick." She suggested rolling back towards me.

I laughed imagining what Clay would say if I called and told him I needed a sick day. "Bikers don't get sick leave baby. Or nursing students that have to be at the hospital in an hour." I tickled under her arms knowing she hated it.

Aleah squirmed laughing hysterically as I held her down tickling her sides now. "Let me go! Let me go! Juice!" She shrieked kicking like a kid throwing a tantrum. "Stop!"

"Get up." I bargained pausing above her giving her a break to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she calmed down grinning at me.

"On one condition…..You tell me why you stayed up all night staring at me." Aleah smirked wrapping her legs around my waist.

Busted. I should have known she wasn't asleep the entire time. The girl never slept through the night anymore. "I wasn't staring at you. I was… thinking." I explained lowering myself down on her, holding my full weight off by propping up on an elbow.

"About?" She asked tickling me behind the ear lightly.

I tensed knowing we didn't have time for a quickie. I didn't need to go to work with blue balls either. "Things. Club shit. You."

Aleah kissed my arm, her lips were dry, then my cheek. "Dad make you unclog the toilet or what?" she joked trying to pull the blanket back over us.

"Just… shit. Shit I don't like." Was all I said to her. I couldn't tell her what we'd done, and even if I could I wouldn't have. I didn't want to freak her the hell out first thing in the morning. "Makes me feel bad sometimes."

"Hey.. Look at me." She said softly rubbing my Mohawk in small circles. "You're a good guy Juice. Your day jobs just a little fucked up. But that doesn't mean you are."

I nodded pulling her in for a kiss then I smacked her on the ass playfully. "We gotta get up before we're both late." I gave her another tight squeeze before I let her go so we could get ready. "Thanks Lee."

She just smiled grabbing her overnight bag from the dresser to pull out her light blue scrubs. I liked it when she wore that color, it made her eyes look like pieces of ice. "Is it okay if I come back later?"

I couldn't believe she even asked that still, but she did. "Yep. Why don't you leave a few things over? Just in case stuff." I suggested. I wasn't ready for a live-in just yet, but I wouldn't mind having some of her stuff over.

Her face broke out into a grin as she pulled her hair up into a pony tail. "Seriously? That'll help.. A lot."

"Sure. I'll swing by your house and take the mutt to the shop too." I liked Gizmo's smooshed, ugly little face. He was always up for a game of fetch or a cheeseburger with me.

I watched her pulling on her clothes slowly, frowning when I noticed her curves were starting to disappear. She'd lost a little bit of weight since Christmas, not too much but if she kept up not taking care of herself she'd look like Jessica soon. After I got myself ready I went to the living room pulling on my boots, gloves, and cut then put my gun in my waist.

Aleah came in in her little nurses uniform and went straight to the stash drawer digging through my weed, pipes, papers, and grinder until she pulled out her own stash hidden underneath it. She sat down at the table pouring out a little on the table when I noticed it. I adjusted my belt buckle walking closer to look before I said anything.

"I thought I said not to touch it until I was here."

Aleah's hands didn't stop moving from cutting her line with the razor. "I only did a little. I was trying to stay up until you got home."

I didn't want to do this at this time of the morning. Fuck, I didn't want to do it at all. "You don't know how much to cut yourself. You could have overdosed." I snapped at her reaching over and snatching the bag from the table.

"I know what I'm doing!" She retorted her eyes flashing at me. "It was just a little, I didn't even have to get anything to come down!" She made a move to snatch the bag back from me but I was fast. I stalked off down the hallway to the bathroom to flush it. "Juice! Don't!" she pleaded.

I felt her hands grabbing on my wrists from behind me until she wormed her way in front of me, we were in the bathroom doorway. I kept a tight grip on the coke not backing down. "No Lee, you're getting too deep into this shit." I tried pulling my arms back from her hands, she dug her nails into me. "Fuck!" I jerked my arm shoving her back into the towel rack.

Aleah was up in a flash pushing on my chest. "I'm sorry ok? Lee, look at me are you hurt?" I asked worriedly touching the back of her head to make sure she didn't have any bumps.

"Don't touch me." She hissed trying to get past me now. It was like we couldn't decide if we were fighting in or out of the tiny bathroom. "I need to go."

"Stop, c'mere. I didn't mean to push you back ok? You scratched the shit out of me." I could see where she'd broken the skin, blood was smeared on the little half moon indentions. I grabbed her holding her tight, rubbing her back until she quit fighting against me. "I'm worried about you. I don't like how deep you're getting in this shit."

She nodded reluctantly putting her arms around my middle. "I'm sorry." She whispered into my cut. "I just.. Need a little bit to get me through today. I'm slammed with everything."

I knew I really shouldn't but I nodded my head showing her it was okay. "After this is gone, no more ok?" It was hard for me to tell her no, but I would just have to learn to deal with it.

"Okay."

We didn't speak much before we left. I gave her a line and took the rest with me. I didn't like the idea of riding around with coke on my bike but it was the only place I had to lock it up that no one else could find it including Aleah. I made it to the garage late getting an ass chewing from Bobby. I started in on a breakdown not speaking much to anyone until Tig kicked me in the leg from my crouched down position .

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked with a smirk on his face nodding to my arms.

Shit. I'd forgotten to wash the dried blood off I realized when I looked down. "Dog." I sighed in a flat tone trying to make it clear I didn't want to talk about it.

Tig snickered not believing it for a second. "Baby girl got a hold of you huh? Getting your ass kicked by your Old Lady already."

"Shut up man, mind your own damn business." I growled not in the mood for Tig today. I jerked on the bike fender I was pulling off trying to hint at him to go away. No such luck with this loud ass.

"You hit her back?" He asked obviously amused about the idea of me and Aleah knocking the hell out of each other. I was pissed at myself for even pushing her back, much less intentionally hitting her. Violence towards women wasn't my thing. Especially ones that made me forget what I was doing just by coming in the room.

"Nope. Not a woman beater." I snapped throwing down my wrench so hard it bounced. "Can we just…not talk?"

Carter came in carrying the repo list just then, Gemma must have finally gotten to work. "Hey Juice, you wanna come with?"

"Abso-fuckin-lutely" I jumped at the chance to get away from everyone for a while. I grabbed a Teller-Morrow shirt and threw it on quickly. "Later Tigger."

I hopped in the tow truck never so happy to be in it in my life. We drove in silence for a while before Carter spoke out of nowhere. "So, you and Aleah… everything ok?"

I looked out of the window at the streets we were passing instead of at him. "Yep. Everything is a-ok." _Except for the fact that she's turning into an addict and I almost knocked her unconscious this morning _I thought to myself.

"Just wondering man. Jess told me she was over at her place today hanging out. Acted like she was upset or something. And no offense, but you look like something scratched the shit out of you." Carter laughed rolling down the drivers side window for the cool breeze to come in while we drove.

Rubbing my Mohawk I didn't know what to say to that. My bad mood was just about back into a rage again. Aleah was supposed to have her ass at the hospital emptying bed pans. Not at the porn stars place eating pizza. "You serious bro?" I tried not to let how mad I was show.

Carter looked back at me, knowing he shouldn't have mentioned it by the way he swallowed. "Yeah Juice. She was there on Monday too, helping Jess unpack. You didn't hear it from me though."

"Can you make a stop?"

"You're not… gonna.. Flip out on her are you?" He asked before agreeing to take me to Jess's hoodrat apartment. That alone had me mad that Aleah was over there. Jessica moved into one of the absolute worst areas of town as far as Charming went, we kept the crime mostly down but shit.

After I shook my head no he finally made a right, taking us to the apartment complex. "Don't tell them we're here." I advised him when he started to get his phone out.

Carter looked unsure as we climbed the stairs up to the second floor, he pointed at the door that was Jessica's and stood back. I knocked loudly fighting off the urge to just kick the shit out of the door and let myself in. What the fuck was Aleah playing at ditching? I banged again leaving a dent in the wooden door before Jessica yelled out. "I said I'm coming dammit!"

She swung the door open her face paling when she saw who was standing on the other side. I gave her a cold look stepping up to the doorway. "You gonna let me in or am I letting myself?"

Jessica glanced at Carter stepping aside for me to enter. Aleah was sitting on the red couch her back to the door. "Who is it Jess?"

"Your very pissed off, very upset boyfriend." I snapped heading over to her. She jumped up whirling around to face me looking panic stricken. "What the hell are you doing over here?"

Aleah threw me back a dirty look, crossing her arms over her chest. "Visiting a friend if you must know."

"You're supposed to be at school, not over here learning to eat pussy for a living!" I roared making her jump. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jess and Carter watching us from the kitchen. "Get in your damn car and go to fucking school!"

"Don't talk to me like that!" She yelled back stomping her feet to emphasize the words. If I wasn't so pissed it probably would've been cute.

"I'll talk to you however in the hell I want to! Get your shit together Aleah! Fuck!" I moved closer to her grabbing her arm. "Let's go. Now."

I could tell by her eyes she was still rolling. Not as much as earlier, but it was still there. That explained where her confidence was coming from. "Let go of me! You gonna push me around some more?" She tried prying my hand off of her arm.

"Don't even go there Lee, who was the trying to beat the shit out of who this morning?" I jerked her arm when I leaned down to grab her purse. "We're leaving. You're going to school. Or work . Or wherever the hell you're supposed to be right now. Don't start a conversation you don't want to have in front of them."

She stopped fighting against me then she just snatched her purse and stalked off out of the door. I gave Carter and Jess a look before following her. "Let's go."

Aleah went to her car climbing in still pissed at me for breaking up the party. "I'm a grown woman Juice. I can make decisions on my own." She hissed when I leaned down into the window.

"Apparently not. You have to go to school. We'll follow you to make sure you get there okay." I knew she hated me right now. But it was for her own good. "Come to the garage when you get out." It was time for a serious talk.

I got into the tow truck, this time I was driving. I followed her all the way to the community college watching to make sure she went in before I left. The repos kept us busy for the rest of the afternoon with Carter kinda clamming up. Kid knew when to keep his mouth shut though, he didn't say shit to anyone about what happened without me even telling him. Around 6 I locked my tools up and sat down on the picnic table watching the guys mess around in the boxing ring, waiting.

Finally about 7 she showed her face. I was still pretty pissed but I couldn't help but grin when I saw her get out of the car. "Hey baby." I leaned over to give her a kiss. "Let's go for a ride." I suggested just wanting some peace and quiet.

Aleah gave me a small smile nodding. I handed her the helmet I'd snagged from inside the garage and got on, her climbing behind me to ride bitch. The guys started whistling and laughing when she leaned forward clutching me when we took off. I rode out to the outskirts of town, to the gardens. Some gardens, they looked more like weed patches to me, and parked.

"Come on. Lets walk." I grabbed her hand once we'd both taken off our helmets.

Aleah didn't say much while we walked at first until we passed a bunch of gardenias. "Mom planted those." She said nudging them with her foot.

"They smell good. Remind me of my Ma." I slipped without realizing. I didn't like to talk about that woman if I didn't have to. "Wanna sit down and talk?"

She nodded starting to twirl her ponytail around nervously when we sat down on the old weathered park bench. I lit a joint, offering it to her after I'd dragged on it. "So, we need to talk about some stuff." I began leaning over so that my elbows were on my legs. "Like a lot of stuff."

"I know. I know I shouldn't have made it sound like you were a woman beater earlier, I was just… pissed that you showed up telling me what to do." Aleah explained taking another turn. "I know you didn't mean to push me over this morning. That was my fault, acting like I did."

"Its my fault too. I was upset about club shit." I sighed sitting back up pressing my back against the low back of the bench. "I don't like some of the shit we've done and I let it get to me."

Aleah reached over taking my hand in hers again, rubbing the back of it. I noticed her nails were ragged looking for the first time since we met. "You should've woke me up to talk. You know you can tell me."

I nodded my head but didn't elaborate. "I know. Its nothing major, just… shit. Ya know? And then when I saw you did the blow without me I freaked." I gave her hand a squeeze. "It scared me. If you do too much you'll give yourself a damn heart attack. I don't want that to happen."

"I should've waited." She admitted picking her legs up so she could lean into my side. "I just.. don't know Juice. I feel like I can't get anything done without it anymore. Or all I do is sleep. I was so tired today even after the one bump, that's why I went to Jessica's."

"I figured that out later. You have to go to school though Leelee." I wrapped an arm around her loving just getting to sit here and talk without interruptions or argue. "And you have to get a grip on the blow. I'm not buying you anymore."

She shifted a little but didn't pull away from me, I knew I'd just hit something inside of her. "I just need to get off of it slowly. Not cold turkey." she reasoned in a quiet tone. The wind blew around us hitting me with a nose full of vanilla perfume. "I promise, I'll stop. I don't want us fighting like that again over something so stupid."

It was dark out now, the few lights in the park only gave us minimal lighting but I could still make out her face. She looked rough. She had tried to hide the circles under her eyes with make up but it didn't work. Her cheeks looked a little bit hollow too. "You better. I don't want something to happen to you. We're friends remember? I love you."

It was the first time either of us had spoken those words. I'd been feeling it for a while now but didn't want to freak her out by saying it. It'd just slipped out now and judging from her wide eyes it did scare her.

Aleah tilted her head to the side to look at me better, licking her lips. "I love you too."

A grin spread across my face before I could stop it knowing this was supposed to be romantic. "I know you do." I tried to break the seriousness of what we'd just said. "I loved you longer though. Since you attacked me at the garage that first time." And I had. That was part of the reason I flipped when we'd kissed. Something had sparked inside of me that I hadn't felt before.

"Let's go home, have a night to us for real this time. No homework, no running out on me for my dad, no leaving." She suggested kissing my ear then neck. "I'll get my car in the morning."

"Let's do that. And then you can show me how much you love me." I winked at her pulling her to her feet. "C'mon Lee."

Aleah's POV

"Is this going to hurt?" I whimpered beside Juice watching him look through the very few tattoo designs Happy had tossed at us.

Juice just laughed at me completely amused at my fear of getting a tattoo. It was easy for him to snicker, the guy had a pretty good beginning to a sleeve on one arm. The three Reapers he'd gotten since he got patched in were huge, but were expertly tatted. My favorite tat of his was the one that read "Luctor et emergo", it fit him perfectly. The head tats were okay, but I was secretly dying to see Juice with a full head of hair.

"Don't be such a girl." He smirked at me, handing me the tattoo he liked the most out of the ones I'd picked. "Jess getting the same right?"

I nodded looking down at the little trail of stars. "Yeah, she's out front smoking with Carter. Or I guess he's with her while she smokes." They were so opposite of each other, good guy and the porn star.

Juice waved to Happy from his spot at the bar, I was kinda iffy on letting a guy that drank like a fish ink me but Juice convinced me it'd be fine. "She's ready man."

Happy came over intimidating me just by looking at me. I felt like a small child under his eyes when he looked at me at any point though. "Where we puttin it at?" He asked in his raspy voice.

"Here." I touched my hip through my jeans watching him get his equipment out. "Should I unbutton them?"

Happy kept on about his business not even batting an eye when he said "Take 'em off."

My face must've shown my shock because Juice cackled beside me loudly. "C'mon. There's no one hardly here but us anyways. I won't let anyone look."

If I'd known I'd be stripping down to my panties in the middle of the clubhouse I'd have chosen better looking ones I thought to myself as I shimmied my pants down. The ones I was wearing weren't too bad though, a pair of dark pink and black lacey things. Thong of course, thank god I'd shaved everything. "You didn't tell me I had to drop my pants for him." I glared at Juice.

"I'd rather you drop your pants for Happy than some stranger." He grinned his sexy grin trying to smooth it over. "Trust me, Happy's seen it all before."

I was sure Happy had. I'd seen the guy with more crow eaters than the rest of the club combined. I laid back on the black leather couch when Happy motioned me to. His hands were covered in the thick black latex gloves. "Go easy." I requested.

"Easy ain't in my vocabulary babe." Happy smirked wiping my hip clean with alcohol before he laid out the stencil. "Where's the other one?"

"I'll get her." Juice took off for the door to grab Jess.

Happy picked up the tattoo gun, just the buzzing sound of it made me jump. "Hey, relax little girl. I ain't gonna hurt you. Nice panties." He leaned over me starting to outline. "You always let that idiot talk you into doing shit?"

This was the most I'd ever heard him speak in my life. "It's a Valentines Day gift. Our first." I explained my cheeks burning from the panty remark.

"Oh." Was all he said back, concentrating. The pain wasn't bad at all. Nothing like I'd expected.

"See? Told you it'd be fine." Juice grinned at me peering over the couch having just gotten back inside with Jessica. He must have told Carter not to come in while I was pants less.

Jessica peeked looking excited. "Oh I can't wait!" She squealed doing a little hop.

Happy paused his work looking up at her for a split second before continuing. He didn't speak again until he was finished with mine. I leaned up looking at the little blue stars before he covered it up. "Lotion, keep it from drying out until its healed. Uncover in an hour." He instructed taping the bandage over for me.

Juice pulled out his wallet, Jess had walked off to the bar laughing with Half Sack while she waited. "How much?"

"Its on me… if you can get the blonde in my bed when I'm finished." Happy told him looking dead serious.

I looked at Juice, shocked, unsure of what to say or do. Juice chuckled looking over at Jessica who was pulling the waist of the pants down for Half Sack. "I'll see what I can do. Don't know though, she's fuckin one of the mechanics."

"Don't care who she's already fuckin." Happy said curtly changing out his gloves and getting a clean needle out for Jess. "Tell her come on."

I pulled my own jeans up, glad I'd lost some weight so they weren't rubbing against me like they used to. "Thanks Happy." He just nodded brushing it off.

Jessica, having no shame at all, dropped her yoga pants before she laid down. Juice turned his head and focused on me. "I'm gonna… grab a drink or a smoke." He excused not wanting to see.

I smiled loving how loyal that was. Not even wanting to check a chick out in her barely there panties. I stayed with Jessica watching Happy work. It was almost graceful, no sign of roughness at all as he stroked the needle across her skin. I wondered how Juice was going to approach Jessica about the deal with Happy. I didn't have to wonder for long though because when Happy was finished with her and she grabbed her purse to pay, he propositioned her. "You can keep the cash. Meet me in my room."

Jessica just grinned flirtatiously at the older man. He had to be old enough to be her dad and then some. "No thanks sugar." She pulled out a few bills. "This enough?"

He nodded for her to drop them on the ottoman not looking like he enjoyed being turned down one bit. "Next time."

Juice came back over once Jess's pants were back up, dropped Happy some more money, and thanked him. "Thanks man. We gotta split. Gotta get our shit packed up for our trip."

We were going down to the cabin for a romantic two day weekend together. The cabin wasn't much, but it was special for us. The first place we'd ever have sex. The first place I'd ever had an orgasm. The first place for a lot of things for us. Juice walked me over to the car chattering about what we needed to get to take with us. I knew I was about to risk a fight in front of a lot of people by bringing this up, but I had to before we left.

"Can you stop by Jeff's for me? Get me enough for the weekend?" I asked quietly opening the drivers side door up to lean on.

Juice's face darkened immediately. He was still on my case about stopping, I'd slacked off since we'd talked about it three weeks ago but was nowhere near ready to stop. "I can't."

I sucked in my breath giving him a pleading look. "Please baby. I don't want to get sick while we're gone." The last time he'd refused to get me anything I'd started sweating, shaking, and throwing up.

Juice shook his head looking around us, seeing if anyone was listening in. "No, I really can't. He won't sell to me anymore."

_Well shit _I thought to myself worrying. "What do you mean? Why the hell not?" I demanded closing the door again.

"He said he thinks I have a serious problem with coke, and I need to quit before the club finds out." He gave me a pointed look telling me with his eyes which one of us had the problem.

"Self-righteous asshole." I mumbled talking about Juice and Jeff at the same time. "Is there someone else?" I racked my brain trying to think of anyone we could score off of.

Juice looked down kicking his cigarette around with the toe of his boot. "I could try Tig. He might know someone somewhere."

I knew it was pure desperation when I resulted to putting Juice up to asking Tig for drugs. That was a big risk for him to take. "Think he'll say anything though?"

He shrugged his shoulders leaning against the car with me now. "He might not. As long as I don't get a ton."

"Just enough for a couple of days?" I asked trying to stress I needed it for the entire weekend. I couldn't handle feeling like that again. Juice had to bathe me and hide me from everyone until I straightened out.

"I'll have to see." He slid his shades on blocking me from being able to read his face. "Maybe you should just detox at the cabin while we're alone though. This shits gotten bad Lee."

I knew it was out of hand. I didn't like him telling me that though. It was the one thing I did that he didn't control. He constantly asked if I went to school, ate, did my homework, where I was at. It was wearing on me. "I know Juice. Its getting better."

"Not really. I'm about two grand in the hole so far."

Shit. I didn't realize I'd spent that much of money on blow. "I'm sorry. I'll pay for it." I moved to lean in through the window to get my purse.

"No. Keep your cash, I know Clay doesn't give you much." Juice sighed adjusting the Velcro on his gloves. "I'll call you and let you know what's going on ok?"

I nodded leaning up when he leaned down to kiss before we left. I pressed my lips back against his hard moaning a little when I felt his hands slip down to my butt grabbing and squeezing. "Save it for later." I whispered breaking away. "I have something special for you."

Juice grinned giving me one last squeeze before he let me push him away. "I'll see you up there."

It was dark when I drove up to the wooden cabin after stopping for food, packing my bag, and getting Gizmo ready to travel. I pulled in seeing Juice's bike already parked out front and a few lights on. I hoped he was still awake. I grabbed Gizmo's little cage and started hauling him up the steep steps with him howling the entire time. The door opened up with Juice wearing only a pair of sweats and socks.

"Here let me." He took the cage from me carrying it with ease into the cabin to let the little furball loose. Gizmo took off like a rocket the second Juice opened the cage. "He'll come back."

I set the bags I was carrying down on the counter before I leaned up on my tip toes to kiss him. "Mmmm he better or you're getting a replacement."

"I let him loose all the time at the garage." He admitted digging through the take out bags I brought with me. "He doesn't go too far."

I popped his hands when he started to dig out an egg roll. "Wait until we sit down." I scolded him "Were you raised in a barn or what Carlos?"

Juice gave me a lazy grin grabbing a couple of plates from a cabinet. "Close enough. Very tiny apartment with several birds, dogs, and cats. And of course Mickey and his family lived in the closet."

Rolling my eyes I fixed us each a plate sliding extra on his while he got out drinks. "No candle light dinner?"

"I thought you'd think it was cheesy. You're not a big help on giving me tips on this romance stuff." He laughed sitting down.

"You're older. You should know how to woo a woman by now." I giggled taking the chair closest to him. I could hear Gizmo barking at something outside. "You know how to make my toes curl but not romance me."

Juice winked at me biting into a egg roll, snapping it in half. "Practice makes perfect ya know."

If that was the case, I didn't even want to think about how much practice he had had before me. Because he'd yet to teach me one thing that I didn't like. We'd been doing our share of experimenting when he'd found I didn't have much experience in … well.. Anything. I never asked him how many women he'd been with, something told me I didn't want to know. "Maybe after we eat you can show me how to use what's in the pink bag." I suggested trying to sound sultry.

His eyes wandered over to the small bag sitting on top of my suitcase. "I'm done." he announced pushing his plate back before snatching mine, I shrieked as he tossed me over his shoulder carrying me to the bedroom. He smacked me across the butt before tossing me down. "Time for a lesson."

I laid my head against Juice's chest feeling the smooth caramel colored skin underneath my hand. "I love you."

Juice twirled my hair around his calloused fingers with one hand, the other was around me relaxed on my bare hip. "I love you too. Maybe too much."

I smiled into the darkness, it was pitch black in the room no light from anywhere. "You ever been in love before?"

"Mmmm. Not like this." He shifted his legs so that my feet were between his thighs. "Not real love. I thought I was in love when I was younger, about 17. Emily Myers, she was an Armenian goddess in Queens." He laughed obviously remembering. "Then again, I thought I loved any girl that let me cop a feel back then."

"You were always a charmer huh?" I joked running my nails along his stomach knowing he liked the sensation.

"Always baby. Must be my knack for playing COD, or my hacking skills that attracts the ladies. I know it was my awesome haircut that did it for you." Juice chuckled grabbing my hand and holding it still. "Or maybe the whole bad boy thing."

I laughed remembering the first I'd set eyes on him in the parking lot. How menacing and hot he'd looked at the same time. "Must have been. Or maybe it was the sex appeal. What made you hot for me anyways?"

"Your smile." He replied simply. "It was genuine. Then the way you talked to me at the garage on your first day. You weren't all over me, you were just talking to me like a normal person. Plus, I like the good girls. Especially the book worms."

I laid there processing what he'd just told me. He did talk to me about a lot of things I was sure he didn't tell anyone else. He told me about club stuff without going into every little detail, just the things that made him uncomfortable. "Good girls? Guess you didn't fuck very many crow eaters and sweet butts then." I dared to say.

"I'm guessing you haven't slept with many bikers." He shot back in a tone that I couldn't tell if it was angry or joking. "Hey, you're… still on the pill right?"

"Yep. As long as you're not giving me cooties we're good." I turned my head to kiss down his chest biting at the flesh every now and then. "No little Juan Carlos's running around anytime soon."

Juice released the hand he'd grabbed pushing it down further. "Good. Kids aren't something I want. Not for a long time."

"Me either. Not until I finish school, get a decent job, a husband. The works."

"I don't want to bring a kid around the club life." He sighed letting me work him over. "Or until I have a stash of cash put back. SAMCRO doesn't have a health insurance package."

I rolled over onto my side pulling the sheet with me. "I was raised around the club, and Jax and Ope. We turned out okay." As normal as you could expect anyways. So what if finding guns in cabinets was a normal thing around your house? Or being on lockdown at the clubhouse?

"That's different. I don't know. Why? You trying to proposition me for a knock up?" He joked starting to tickle me. "Besides, Jax _so_ did not turn out normal." We both laughed thinking of the crazy things the club had done, Jax's junky wife, just Jax in general. "C'mon let's open presents. I got you something else."

"You shouldn't have!" I protested sliding out of the warm bed to hunt my clothes in the dark. "You paid for the tattoo, and the… other stuff."

Juice flipped the light switch on then leaned over to get his sweats to pull on. "I wanted to. Its not much. And the other stuff is still up in the air." He went to his black backpack digging around while I pulled my smaller box out of my purse.

"Its not much-" I started getting nervous about this. "I didn't know what to get."

Juice held out a red wrapped box to me. "On three we'll open them. One… two…." On two he wrapped the gold paper off of the box I'd gave him and took the lid off. "Hey…. This is.. Really cool." He took the ring out of the box looking it over.

"I had it made for you at that place on 11th street. I thought you'd like it." I watched as he slid the Reaper face ring on beside his normal SONS ones.

"I love it. Thanks baby." He kissed me on the cheek "Now open yours up."

I pulled the top off of the box grinning when I saw what he'd bought me. A very pretty white gold bracelet with hearts in pink ice. "Its pretty!" I lifted it from the velvet lined box carefully. "I love it. Thank you!" He took it from me hooking it on it looked tiny in his big hands.

"You're welcome Lee." He kissed my wrist after looking at it on me. "I really do love you, you know that?" He drew me in closer.

"I really do love you." I could feel it through every inch of my body like I'd never felt anything before.

**Review! Please!**


	13. Chapter 13

**The reviews were wonderful for the last chapter, thanks guys! Chelsea, me and my beta loved yours especially lol. This chapter….. The crazy train I've been warning you all about finally leaves the train station. It starts getting a little …. Wild. **

**Thanks for all your follows and favorite, and thanks to Jessica for her help with this. **

**I do not own SOA**

Chapter 13 Pretty Girl

"You like this one?"

I turned to look at whatever type of baby outfit Mom was holding up. It was a yellow sleeper thing with ducks all over it. I tried to picture my bad ass biker brother dressing a baby in that and just laughed. "Looks good to me."

We were out baby shopping for Jax and Wendy. It didn't look like Wendy had much interest in doing it herself so Mom had taken it upon herself to start getting a few things together. Wendy was hitting on her fifth month of pregnancy and still slipping up. Jax was doing everything he could not to strangle her but I knew as soon as the kid was born, it wouldn't be nice.

Mom paused at the fuzzy, velvety soft blankets digging through them. "Can't believe I'm going to be a grandma."

"I know. I didn't think Jax would ever want kids." I stuffed my hands into my thin white jacket. "Especially with her."

"Yeah well, should I be expecting anymore soon?" She tried to ask casually pretending to still be looking.

"No chance of that." I smirked thinking about Juice. We went at it pretty much every time we saw each other, but we were careful about it. I was on the pill now and he still used condoms. Kids weren't something we were even thinking on anytime soon.

Mom tossed a couple of blue sports themed blankets in the buggy. We were shopping at Target, only the best low quality baby gear for Abel as Jax called him. "Good. Your Dad would rip his dick off." She grabbed a pack of tiny hooded bath towels. "Jess came by and had coffee today."

Ah ha. So that explained Mom's sudden decision that we didn't see each other enough even though we lived in the same house. True, I did avoid my parents most of the time by staying at Juice's as much as possible away from school, but that was only because I didn't want them to realize I was high. I avoided a lot of people lately though including Jessica.

"Really? That's nice of her." I grabbed a bath set and tossed it in. We were trying to collect the smaller stuff first, Jax said he'd take care of the bigger items. Opie had mentioned Donna had saved a lot of the kids stuff in their shed if we could use any of it.

"Yeah. Yeah it was." She stopped pushing the red cart to look at me. I felt scrutinized under her dark eyes. "She said she hardly hears from you anymore. Juice tells her you're busy if she calls. Thinks he's keeping you away from her."

I knew what she was trying to say without actually saying it to me. She wanted to know if Juice really was controlling everything I did. And the truth behind that was, to a certain extent he did. Not the jealous boyfriend way. But in the your detoxing, you can't drive way. "I have been pretty busy. Schools killing me."

"Hmmm. Really? I got something in the mail from them this morning." She started walking again this time towards the diaper aisle. "Seems like you haven't been at school much lately."

Shit. I was so busted. "I missed a few days. Nothing major. I can still complete my classes." I sighed starting to pick at my nail polish as I trailed after her. "Is that why you made me come out today?"

Mom grabbed a case of diapers then wipes turning to face me again after she'd slid them in the bottom of the cart. "Why haven't you been going? Juice?"

I almost laughed when she brought his name up about school. If anyone tried to push me to go, it was him. He badgered me about homework, clinicals, and anything else school related. "No, not because of Juice Mom. He actually…. Makes me go most days. I just don't want to go some days." _Usually on days Juice doesn't get my fix in time and I start vomiting. _

"You better start wanting to go Miss Priss. Clay's going to be pissed if he finds out about this." She got in line at the register to check out. "Its kinda nice having girl time with those idiots gone isn't it?"

The guys except for Half Sack, Opie, and Piney were all gone on a run to Fresno. They'd been gone for two days so far, and were supposed to be back tomorrow night. I hated it when Juice had to go out of town. We were stuck like glue now days, always together. I just couldn't get enough of being around him. His goofy grin still made me blush when it was focused on me. And I could still get my way with him by simply asking.

The next day

I leaned back on the wooden picnic table watching Half Sack and Carter practice their boxing skills. Half Sack was actually a damn good fighter. I had a feeling Carter might be holding back a little bit though. He was hitting Half Sack back but he didn't look the least bit winded from it. Carter was a huge guy to be getting knocked around by Sack anyways.

The rumble of bikes coming into the lot made me turn my head from the mock fight, a grin forming. Mom stepped out of the office peering as the guys backed their bikes in a row. Juice was the last to hop off, with Tig pushing his bike back for him. "Hey sexy." He called to me putting his helmet on the handles before coming over to me.

His Dickies hung low on his hips showing off just enough of his ass when he walked. I felt the familiar flip flop in my stomach when he kissed me sweetly, not overdoing it in front of my Dad. "Miss me?" I asked looking up at him.

Juice grinned back down at me, his face had one small cut under his eye, but otherwise he'd made it back in one piece. "Just a little. Maybe a tiny bit." He hugged me tightly lifting me off of the ground.

I squeezed him loving the way he smelled like body wash and the open air. "You better have missed me a lot. I slaved away cleaning your pig sty up while you were gone." Two days of scrubbing Juice's house into perfect condition hadn't been too bad really, but he had his little downsides like any man that lived alone did. Juice's mainly being he didn't like to wash dishes.

"You didn't have to." He started but Mom cut in.

"It was either she did it or I called Mrs. Linson in, that place was disgusting." She'd came over with me when I stopped to water his weed plants for him and saw the mess he'd left. "She's supposed to start doing Jax's place for Wendy. Maybe I can get a twofer deal going."

Juice just grinned at her apologetically, keeping one hand on the middle of my back. "I would've cleaned if I knew you were coming over."

Dad stepped back out of the office hanging up whatever call he'd been on. "Juice, I need you to run a few things before you go." He handed him a piece of paper. "Give me the rundown before you head out for the night."

Juice took it from him with his free hand looking it over. "Shouldn't take long. I'll be right back babe." He kissed my cheek getting a sigh from Dad. "We'll split right after. Promise."

I waved him off going inside the cool office. It was starting to warm up too much to be outside for me. I was already sweating from my mid-day bump. Mom and Dad walked off looking at his bike talking in low voices between the two of them. I doodled around on a piece of copy paper waiting for Juice to get done. I could hear the guys in the shop talking in loud voices, laughing every so often.

"I wonder if Trixie is here." Came Tig's voice. "That woman is an animal."

"Didn't you get enough pussy last night man? That place was wild." Jax laughed, light clinking sounds from whatever they were messing with.

Bobby's deep laugh followed with a louder clink. "Think Juicy Boy took the only good thing in that place bro."

My heart froze, I could feel my pulse quicken while I strained to listen to them. "I know right? And he said that blonde bitch wasn't even that great." Tig snickered. "Don't know what he'd want with her big ass anyways when he's already tapping the girl like a jack rabbit."

"Shut up man that's my sister." Jax snapped.

I shut them out after that. My head was pounding in my temples. Juice was cheating on me. I shut my eyes taking a few deep breaths slowly. I couldn't flip out on him without them knowing I'd been eavesdropping. And that would piss them all off at me. I could feel my emotions so strong my chest was starting to hurt. Juice was fucking around when he was on the road. I'd thought he quit once we became official. It wasn't like he wasn't getting enough at home. I'd never turned him down. Sure, I wasn't the best he'd ever been with but he'd taught me to do things his way more or less.

"Hey, you ok?" Juice's deep voice sounded from the doorway. "You look sick or something."

I opened my eyes up at the man that had unknowingly ripped my heart out. "I'm…. fine." I said flatly. "Are you ready?" I needed to get out of here before I broke down.

"In a bit. We're going to have a little get together. Just the club and a few of the CaraCara girls. You up for sticking around or you want me to drive you home?" He asked looking concerned. It showed through his eyes.

"No. I'm fine. I just… need to go do something." I pushed the chair back when I stood up. "I'll be back out in a bit." I grabbed my purse taking off to the clubhouse bathroom before he could stop me. I had just enough blow for one last bump. I'd need it to get through tonight without killing him.

I shut the door behind me after my sprint to the bathroom and looked in the mirror at myself. My skin had paled a lot in the past couple of months. My cheek bones were more prominent. I stared for a while before getting out the last of the powder I kept hidden in a make up compact. Juice had gotten me enough to last while he was gone, something he'd started doing when he realized I really couldn't function without it.

A while later when I came out the grill was going and everyone was in the clubhouse hanging out or outside watching the boxing ring. I stood back with a sweet butt named Mia watching Happy and Tig go at it. They were both brutal but my money was on Happy. The man even moved in a lethal way. Mia sat down in a stray patio chair cheering when Happy right hooked Tig. "This is alright." She laughed glancing at me.

She was a newer girl. Young, probably the only one close to my out of all the crow eaters and sweet butts that hung around, and was a black haired pale skinned thing. She had bright green eyes and was honestly too pretty to be passed around by these jerks. I motioned for her to scoot over and squeezed in the chair with her, our thighs over lapping each others. "Yeah, its better when they're actually mad at each other."

"I bet. They're nice to look at either way. Especially your man." She winked at me giving Juice an appraising look from where he was at talking to Jax.

It didn't bother me. Not a bit. Juice was fucking anything two sets of lips anyways. "He's not bad. Especially his cock." The words slipped as my numb, heart pounding high came through my body in a wave.

Mia giggled, glancing at him again then at the ring where they were switching out fighters. Tig and Half Sack now. Half Sack would be massacred. "Really? I heard that from a few of the girls. They said he quit screwing around a few months ago."

So it was just girls on runs he was fucking. Not the club girls. That didn't help. "He did. But maybe…." I paused an idea for my revenge hitting me out of nowhere. I laughed loudly picturing how he'd react to this. I looked around to make sure Dad and Gemma weren't around before I leaned over and kissed the girl beside me. "Maybe we can arrange something."

A smile came across the other girl's face slowly realizing what I meant. She kissed me back, her lips were way softer than Juice's if that was even possible. "Maybe we can." She agreed whispering into my ear. "I wouldn't mind a bit."

I gave her another kiss aware now of people giving us looks. "How about now?" I whispered back knowing Juice had to have noticed or someone had told him to look by now.

Mia pushed my hair back behind my ear. "I say we get going. Wanna grab that sexy ass Rican and let's split?"

"My cars the Fusion." I offered nodding towards it. "You need a ride or wanna follow us to his place?"

"You sure he'll be down for this?" She asked the first glimmer of doubt showing.

"I'm positive." I replied sliding up from the chair. Juice loved watching girl on girl porn, why wouldn't he want to see it live and in person? If he could have a little fun, so could I.

Mia got up too, her eyes going back to Juice again for another check out. "I'll follow you over."

I nodded going over to Juice. His eyes were dark with something when I approached him. "Let's get out of here." I whispered to him ignoring the jibes from the guys around us. "Now."

Juice looked over my shoulder at the waiting Mia, and I could see the internal battle going on in his head, wondering if this was really about to go down. "Yeah. Yeah okay. I'll meet you at the house." He said finally putting his beer down. "See you guys later."

I knew everyone was waiting to see us leave, see if the sweet butt was going home with us. I was past caring what any of these lying fucks thought about me. They didn't care enough to tell me I was being cheated on, so why should I care about their opinions of me? I got in the car driving the few blocks over to Juice's house aware of the blue Mustang following behind us. Juice must have been behind her. I pulled into the driveway waving for her to get out and unlocked the door with my spare key. This was one time Juice should be happy I was an addict. Otherwise I would have tore his head off already.

"Its not much." I smiled at Mia as she came in after me. I led her into the kitchen getting Juice's vodka out of the cabinet. "I'll get us a drink."

Mia slid into one of the high-backed kitchen chairs looking around. "Its actually really nice. Not what I expected at all. Thanks." She welcomed the screw driver I handed her sipping on it.

"Yeah, he does okay." I took a chugging gulp out of my glass just as Juice walked into the house taking his riding goggles off. "Hey you."

Juice eyed Mia a moment curiously before crossing over to kiss me. "What was the rush on leaving?" He asked glancing down at the vodka bottle.

"Just wanted to chat… you know." I smiled sweetly holding out a drink for him. "You know Mia don't you?"

His eyes went back to the raven haired girl that was giving him a fuck-me grin. "Yeah. I've seen her around a few times."

"Hey sugar." She purred , I waited for the jealously to hit me, but it didn't. I still only felt pure rage flowing through my body along with the numb.

"Lets take this party to the living room. Sit down." I suggested downing my drink. Coke and liquor never went good together for me. Once again, I didn't give a fuck.

Juice grabbed his glass back off the table and motioned for us to go first. I sauntered past him grabbing Mia's soft hand in my own. I waited for Juice to sink down into the brown suede before I slid down on one side of him, Mia getting on the other. I waited for him to get one last sip before I took the glass back and put it on the coffee table beside us before I climbed onto his lap kissing him. Juice's eyes widened when Mia scooted over getting onto his other leg with me, going for his neck.

I reached down rubbing him through his pants, feeling that he was already hard. This was much easier than I imagined. Juice kissed back roughly, biting on my bottom lip, placing a hand on each of our heads. I pushed my chest closer to his grabbing Mia's hand and thrusting it on his crotch instead of mine. Juice pulled back slightly , just far enough to speak. "You sure you wanna do this Lee?"

I gave him a wink in reply and leaned over to kiss Mia while he watched. I turned more towards her while we kissed and knocking his hands away from ours going for each others hair instead. I could feel him rubbing me through my jeans and knew he must be doing the same to her. "Lets go to the bed."

We climbed off of him each taking one of his hands giggling like little girls. I crashed onto the bed pulling her down with me while Juice hit play on his Ipod dock. The room filled with the loud rap music we usually fucked to, just a few tracks before the metal would come on. I wondered how much more of this he could take. I knew he was loving it but I could see the tense hold of his jaw every time just me and Mia would play around. Clothes were coming off quickly until we were all left in nothing. Mia's green eyes glinted when she saw Juice in all his naked glory, muscles, cock, and fully shaved.

"Come here girl." I told her pulling her towards me. Time for the real run to begin. Juice leaned back staring while we made out, hands starting to explore each others bodies. I was in no way bisexual but then again, neither was Jessica and she did this every day. Mia bit down on my nipple then sucked before going lower her mouth exploring a place only Juice's had been. "Ohh… yes…" I moaned being louder than normal.

Juice shifted moving so he could kiss me while Mia went down on me but I shoved him back roughly shaking my head at him. He looked confused watching me twirl her hair around my fingers. "My turn." I whispered tugging on her hair once I got off. I pushed her down onto the soft mattress sucking on her neck. I knew Juice was getting closer to what I wanted to push him to by the way his body was tensed.

I pretended he wasn't there, letting her hands and whimpers guide me into what I was doing. Juice started to kiss her but I shoved him away again. "No." I hissed before going back to Mia's smooth skin.

I could see his jaw had tightened when we embraced, me ignoring him completely and Mia too wrapped up to care. "God… you're so good at this." I whispered to the girl and that was when he finally broke.

"What are you playing at here Aleah?" Juice snapped angrily.

I laughed harshly letting go of Mia's hair to finally look at my jealous, angry boyfriend. "I just wanted to see what this felt like."

"What what felt like exactly? A three some? Sex? What ?" He was up grabbing his clothes. Game over.

"I wanted to know it felt like to fuck around with someone while you got hurt." I laughed again, more crazed this time.

Juice glanced down at Mia who looked uncomfortable. "You should go." He told her throwing her shirt at her. "Now."

I grabbed my own clothes dressing in a flash but not quicker than Mia, the girl was running out of the door while I was still buttoning my jeans. "What's wrong Juice? You don't like me fucking someone else?"

"What. Are. You. Talking. About.?" He emphasized each word going to the living room to slam the front door shut. We were both having to yell over the loud ass music that was playing. Sounded like 'Out that Boot camp' old as it was, was blasting from back there.

"You know what the hell I am talking about!" I yelled angrily not being able to hold it in any longer. "You fucking liar!"

I'd moved closer to him without even realizing, only a few inches from his face. "I haven't done anything." He said in a low, steady voice the emotion was starting to come off of him hard now, his face turning an angry shade of red under the tan.

"You're going to stand there and lie to my fucking face?" I grabbed the glass closest to me and crashed it into the wall. "You're such a piece of shit!"

"This piece of shit, would do anything for you!" He retorted leaning even closer into my face. "Don't you get that by now?"

"I get that you're fucking around on me! You expect me to sit back and be okay with it? Fuck you Juice!"

I jumped when he moved, slamming his fist down into the wall behind us. "Shut up! Dammit! Just shut up a minute. You know the rules. Who the hell told you?"

"Don't talk to me like that!" I shouted shaken from how he'd just busted a hole in the sheet rock just inches from my head. "This is all your fault, everything is your fault!"

"Its my fault you've turned into a crazy bitch addict?" He took a really low blow there and it was my turn to get violent. I slapped him as hard as I could, my hand hurting like hell from the impact.

Juice touched his face, his dark eyes flashing before he grabbed my bag throwing it hard, knocking over a picture frame that busted into a million jagged pieces. "Don't hit me again." He warned shaking a finger in my face.

I took off into the bathroom slamming the door shut and locking it behind me, half scared and half out of control. My hands were shaking like leaves, my body was trembling when I leaned over to try to calm down. I was starting to feel like I was about to have a heart attack when Juice started pounding on the door. "Aleah! Open the door, lets talk."

"I don't want to talk to you! Liar!" I threw back at him digging through his medicine cabinet knocking things over digging for something to try to calm me down.

"Open up now!" He slammed his fist down harder rattling the door. I kicked it back as hard as I could denting it in slightly with the impact.

"No!"

Juice hit it again, he must have been charging it I realized. "Aleah, are you okay? You're acting crazy."

"I'm fine. I'm fucking perfect!" I yelled slamming the medicine cabinet shut not finding anything I could use.

Juice hit the door again, finally breaking it open. "What the hell has gotten into you? How much blow did you do?"

I went wild. I lunged at Juice, clawing his face and neck with my nails while he tried to peel me off of him. I knew all it would was one good hit back from him to stop this but I knew he'd never do it. He was too good of a guy to fight back. I punched at him yelping when he grabbed and squeezed my wrist hard in his large hands. "Stop it! Look at us!" He shook my wrists hard. "Stop this stupid shit now!"

"No!" I cried out kicking him this time. He reeled back the weight of our bodies knocking another hole into a different wall. "You stupid…. Cheating.. Sack of shit!"

A pounding at the door made us both freeze. The music was playing a song I recognized from years back, a song called "Locked up". It was ironic when the door busted open with David Hale barreling through the doorway, gun drawn. "I got a call from the neighbors about a disturbance." His eyes fell on us, we'd jumped apart when the door crashed in. "And it looks like they're right."

He motioned to the other officer to come inside and looked around. I really noticed then the damage we'd done to the house in the few minutes we'd been struggling with each other. Things were knocked over, broken, holes, and Juice's face was bleeding. I had red marks where his hands had been on my arms trying to stop me. "What the hell happened here?"

Juice swallowed hard before he answered. "We're fine. Just…. A misunderstanding."

"Everything's okay." I choked out, the tears starting to flow again. "Really."

Hale studied me then Juice before saying to his partner. "Cuff him. I'll get her. Keep them separated."

I reeled when I realized what was happening, when Hale turned me around slipping the metal cuffs on my wrists. I watched as Juice turned getting the same treatment. "Did he hit you ? You need to tell me."

I shook my head no, in shock of what was happening here. "What…. What are you taking us for?"

"Domestic. If one of you goes, you both go. It's the law." He explained leading me to the waiting cop car.

"Aleah, Aleah, look at me." I heard Juice pleading from behind me getting led out after me. I turned my head to the side. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry this happened."

I didn't answer him. I just tucked my head down when I got in the back of the car. My roll was completely gone now and I hoped like hell they couldn't tell I was under the influence of anything. I didn't speak to Hale after he read my rights then drove us into the station. He led me to an empty room with a table and chair to ask about what had happened. When he was done he sighed looking at me sympathetically. "Do you want me to call Gemma or Clay to come down?"

Shaking my head , I thought quickly about who I could trust to come and not say shit to anyone about this. "No. No neither of them. I have someone."

Juice's POV

I couldn't believe the shit that had just went down. I'd been looking forward to a nice relaxing evening with my girl after a long run, not fucking jail. I leaned over resting my head in my hands waiting for them to call me. If I looked up to the right, I could see Aleah through the glass window in her own cell.

I'd stuck with the dumb ass story of 'I tripped' and got smirks from the cops. I knew they thought this was funny, a Son getting his ass kicked by his girl. "Ortiz?" The blonde female cop asked poking her head in. "Your rides here."

I jumped up quickly ready to get the hell out of here. We were both being charged with domestic, but being released since they couldn't prove either of us had assaulted the other one. I rounded the corner and never felt as happy as I did then to see Carter. He gave me a small wave trying not to look at me. I knew I looked like hell, the cuts and scrapes were stinging like fire on my face from Aleah's attack.

"Thanks man. I really really appreciate this. I couldn't call anyone else." I explained following him outside the cop shop.

"No problem. Glad you trust me enough to do this." Carter shrugged pointing to where his Tahoe was parked at. "Did anyone come for Aleah or should I get her?"

I started to answer then stopped spotting the person she must have called. Opie Winston shoved past me giving me a hard, hateful look that I'd never received from one of my brothers before. "I'll deal with you later." He growled at me.

I wasn't scared of Opie. But I was scared of who Opie could tell about this. I wanted to keep this shit quiet. I didn't even know how I was going to explain my injuries tomorrow. Or how I was going to get Aleah to talk to me. I didn't speak to Carter once I got in the truck and we rode to my house. "I'll help you pick up the mess." He offered when we pulled in.

I nodded climbing out sighing when I saw the door I'd already replaced once slightly open. "Opie must have came in here too." I noted seeing Aleah's purse and things were gone.

Carter whistled when he came in behind me surveying the damage done. "Wow….. "

I stood in the middle of the room taking it all in. We'd destroyed the house Aleah had just worked so hard to deep clean for me while I was gone. "I know."

"What… I mean if you don't mind.. What happened?" He asked in a way that I knew he wasn't just being nosey. He started picking up broken pieces of the things we'd thrown.

I crouched down trying to get the glass picked up from the fluffy beige carpet. "I don't know. We started out good. Really good. Then she brought some chick home with us and snapped on me in the middle of a three-way. Said she knew I'd been fuckin around on her. I don't know how she'd even know I did."

Carter just listened while he worked nodding to show me he heard me while I spoke. "We started arguing then she snapped on me. Started throwing shit at me. Slapped me. Clawed me up. I tried stopping her and it got worse. She's…. " I paused trying to think of how to put this without revealing what the real problem was. "She's dealing with some things."

"Aren't all girls?" He quipped pulling the trash can closer to him. "Is she okay? Like really okay?"

"I don't know." I replied completely honest. I didn't know anymore. I didn't know what to do for the girl I loved so much. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this with her."

Carter stood up finishing with the glass he'd cleaned up and started on the door seeing what he could do with it. "Maybe she needs help Juice. Real help." He suggested pushing the door back and forth. "Something you can't give her."

I'd considered that before. It seemed like the more I tried to help Aleah, the further she sunk into whatever hole she was in. She'd completely lost it tonight, and I knew it was the coke. I tried a few times of easing her out of it but I couldn't say no when she was sick and in pain. I didn't have it in me, not when I could make her better. "I should have kept my dick in my pants."

He snorted trying not to full on laugh at me. "That would help."

"It was just a blow job. We all do it." I explained going to get the vacuum from my laundry room. "She knows how it is. I don't know why she flipped."

"Maybe it hurts her. Maybe just because she knows how it is, doesn't mean she likes it."

I plugged in the vacuum thinking on what he said. "Maybe so." I hit the button cleaning the floor. Carter proved he was a kick ass friend staying until we had everything in enough order that it was livable again. He promised he'd be back after work the next day to help me patch the sheetrock back up. My landlord was going to have a field day with shit.

I didn't sleep a wink all night. I tried texting her a few times and didn't get anything back. I just wanted to know she was alright. I didn't want her mad at me. I didn't want her hurt because of the stupid shit I'd done either. When I made it in to TM in the morning I was prepared for the shit talking that was about to happen. My cover story was blank, I had nothing to explain this one. My face and neck were clawed, bruise on my cheek, and my knuckles were busted from hitting the door and the walls so hard.

"Whoooaaa…. Who the hell beat the shit out of you?" Bobby spouted off laughing when I went inside the kitchen at the clubhouse.

"No one." I snapped grabbing a muffin from the bag he had on the counter. "Just a rough night."

Bobby chuckled some more leaning closer to peer at me. "Little girl do this to you?"

I threw him a dirty look shoving the muffin into my mouth before I took off to the garage. I knew I only a short time before Gemma or Clay started in on me. I had no clue what Aleah had told them happened, or what she'd told Opie. I didn't have to wonder for long, Opie pulled in behind the wheel of his brown and white truck glaring at me.

"Morning." I told him crossing my arms over my chest when he'd made it over to me. The garage was still opening so we didn't have much of an audience.

Opie towered above me, crossing his arms too. "Morning." He glanced over at Carter who was about two foot away from us. "We should talk."

"Talk." I shrugged my shoulders, Carter pretty well knew everything and the others would figure it out.

"What the hell happened over there last night? It looked like a pack of coyotes fought inside your place." Opie uncrossed his arms to light up.

I rubbed the back of my neck with the heel of my hand letting out a deep breath. "What did Aleah tell you happened?"

"Nothing. She told me you guys fell and knocked everything over. That's all she'd tell Hale too. Did you hit her?" He snapped his eyes flashing at me in a way that told me he'd rip me apart.

"Nope. Never hit her. I grabbed her arms to stop her from hitting me. That's it." I told him deciding to light up my own cigarette. It was too early for a joint.

He offered me his lighter looking deep in thought before saying in a low voice. "I found the coke. When I went to your stash drawer for the bail money to get her out."

Every nerve in my body jolted at once. I sucked in hard on my cigarette trying to think of how I was going to get out of this one. "Not mine. I don't use. Was just keeping it for a friend to pick up." I lied through my teeth. "All last night was was a lovers quarrel. No big deal."

"I'd say the two of you going to jail is a big deal. I'm not keeping quiet about this. Aleah's like a sister to me man. I thought you'd treat her good."

I almost cracked a smile at that. I did treat her good. I treated her very good compared to most of the girls around here. "I do treat her good. She just lost her temper during some uhh….. Sexual stuff."

Opie snorted loudly stomping his cigarette out with his heavy boot. "I heard about that chick you guys took home. Didn't connect that with this though. I swear to God though Juice, if I found out you're using I'm telling Clay."

"I'm all open for a drug test." I told him not worried about it a bit. I knew the only thing showing up on me would be weed. "We good now?"

He studied me a moment before nodding and we did the standard guy clap/hug thing before he went off to find Jax. I could feel Carter's eyes on my back while I messed around with my bike, tweaking a few things on it. "You heard him?"

"Just a little. I won't say anything."

I nodded appreciatively at him thankful he knew when to keep his mouth shut. "Good. I don't need to deal with that shit getting around either."

"I saw her last night after I dropped you off you know. She was over at Jessica's place, she didn't want to go home." Carter told me giving me a look that told me he felt bad for one of us. "She didn't have anything wrong with her except some bruises. Nothin like you."

"I told you, I didn't hit her." Why in the hell did everyone suddenly think I was a woman beater just because my woman happened to beat the shit out of me twice in a two month time frame?

Carter tossed me a wrench I needed and sat back watching me work. "She told Jess that she was pissed you cheated on her. And that all she wanted was an apology. A real one."

Hmmm. An apology. After she jumped on me. I didn't know how to fix this as it sat. Or if I should even try. Last night was insane. "I don't think she'll talk to me." I admitted twisting the wrench around. "She was pretty upset last night. Obviously." I gestured to my claw marks that had scabbed over.

"Well she's here so you better decide quick."

I jumped up quickly looking behind me at the white Ford Fusion that had just pulled into the lot. I watched as the petite brunette climbed out of the car wearing what looked like pajamas and a messy hair do that I was itching to run my fingers through. I tossed the wrench down and headed towards her, hoping this wouldn't turn into a scene. "Hey."

Aleah stuffed her hands in her pockets, light pink flush rising to her cheeks when she met my eyes with her ice blue ones. "Hey." She breathed looking awkward and unsure of herself. "Could we… I mean.. can we…?"

"Yeah. C'mon." Without thinking I grabbed her hand and led her into the office shutting both doors. I took it as a good sign she didn't jerk away from me or freak about being left alone.

"Look… I need to say something before you do." I half sat half leaned against the desk edge. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I'd hurt you this bad by… doing what I did. I'm new to this relationship thing. And it was only twice that it even happened."

Aleah's face gave away that she was still hurting as she bobbed her head up and down. "It did hurt. Bad. I thought this was different than the other guys and their girls. I thought we had something here."

"No, we do. I love you Aleah. A lot. And I'm so sorry." I reached out pulling her towards me hoping she wouldn't recoil. "Please, don't let my stupidity ruin this. It wasn't worth it."

She shut her eyes when she leaned into me, her hands grabbed fistfuls of my SAMCRO shirt tightly. "Its okay, but not okay. I'll… figure it out."

"This can't happen again though. Last night was insane Lee." I rubbed her spine up and down, feeling the little bones sticking out. "You lost it."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I swear." Aleah promised hugging me tighter if it were even possible. "I just don't know…. I'm screwing up so much lately."

I kissed her brown curls inhaling the scent of her shampoo. Or well, Jessica's shampoo today. "We'll figure it out. We'll start weaning you off little by little like we were okay?" I wasn't even going to mention Opie finding out or she'd definitely lose it again. "I don't want anyone to even know about this."

Aleah sniffled into the tight she was clasping suddenly, tiny tears rolling out of her eyes. "I don't know how it got this bad Juice. Yeah I was upset with you but I shouldn't have did what I did. God, I love you. I don't want to hurt you."

I kissed her hair again patting her back as small sobs left her body. "I'm okay baby. You're gonna be okay. We'll take care of everything. We're both gonna fix ourselves."

I held her tight for a few minutes letting her calm down before I had to pull away from her. "You need to get to class. I'll call you later ok?" I was using the word okay a lot today.

"Yeah. I love you."

"Always."

Once she left, everyone else got to work or to go to the clubhouse. I caught a few snide remarks from the guys over the marks, and the sweet butt leaving with us the night before. I brushed it all off as a threesome gone wrong. I didn't mention the charges until Jax did. Opie ratted us out. And Jax was pissed.

"Hear you got my baby sister arrested last night."

"Jax, you know it wasn't like that." I sighed tilting back in my chair at a table in the clubhouse. I was running a few checks on some people, checking out things. It was my day off from the garage.

Jax smirked at me giving me a hard angry look. "Looks like she got her point across to you."

"Trust me, she did." I touched the worst mark, the one going across my jaw bone. It hurt every time I spoke. "We're good now."

"Better be. You hurt her, I hurt you. Got it?"

"Got it boss." I had it edged into my brain. No more fucking around. No lies. No more buying coke. No more arguing. Time to be the young, lovey, happy couple that everyone thought we were. The toughest part was going to be getting Aleah straightened back out. I did some research seeing what I could without having to take her anywhere, or ask for outside help. I didn't want Clay to know about this, Aleah would be crushed if anyone knew. I read through WebMD, , and a million other places writing down notes for a couple of hours.

Today, we were breaking the cycle and starting a new one. It was either help Aleah or lose her. And there was no way in hell I was going to lose her.


	14. Chapter 14

**This was written as an outtake scene through my OC Jessica's POV when I was having a bit of a writers block with Juice/Aleah, so here's a little bit of seeing them through someone else's view point. **

**Happy birthday to my good friend and co author Jessica!1 ((yes she is real, but nothing like this Jessica I swear!)))**

**Thanks for all of the reviews and follows last chapter, I'll post another actual chapter of the fic tomorrow sometime. And for those of you watching season six, holy sh!T Juice! That badass side of him was amazing last week!**

Chapter 14 Outake- A peek into Jessica's world

I shut my dressing room door to change into street clothes, I was ready to get the hell out of CaraCara for the day. You'd think having sex all day would be a great job but it was actually harder than it looked. It almost made me not want to even bother having sex when I was away from the place. But then I slept with Carter and that went out of the window.

I grabbed my track pants and t-shirt dressing quickly. I was hoping to get home early enough to call him to come over for a bit. He didn't usually get off until late at the garage anyways, the lazy ass mechanics were always dipping out. Especially Lowell, binging was big on his list of priorities now days. He never seemed like a tweaker when I stayed over at Aleah's, he did stay cooped in the room a lot too though.

Grabbing my car keys I headed out waving bye to Luann. That lady was a saint in disguise. She helped me more than my own family did when I started working for her, she fronted me the cash for the car to get back and forth to work, the apartment, and everything else. She just took a percentage back out of my check each week. The best thing that ever happened to me had to be making Aleah my best friend when we were kids, without knowing her none of this would have went down.

I sent Carter a text telling him I was heading home if he wanted to come by and took off in my silver Mazda loving to hear it accelerate. By the time I made it home he was already there waiting outside my door. I grinned when I saw the gorgeous man standing there. Carter was way more than I ever expected to snag for myself. He was a big guy, built solid, black hair, green eyes, and a huge heart. I practically skipped up the stairs hurrying to get to him. "Hey sexy." I purred rubbing against him when I unlocked the door.

"Hey yourself beautiful." Carter grinned following me in after he stopped to shut and lock the door. "How was work?"

"Finger lickin good as always." I laughed loving how uncomfortable my job made him. He wasn't your normal perverted guy that got off on his girl making porn, or even watching it. "Didn't think you'd be off this early."

He sat down on my couch while I went around picking up a few things, flipping on some lights. I didn't have much so it wasn't hard to clean. "Me either. Juice said he'd close up though and I didn't argue."

Juice. Ugh. I couldn't stand him anymore. He wasn't so bad when I first met him but now I just wanted to strangle him every time I heard his voice. "Oh yeah? Your little friend decided to be nice huh?"

"C'mon, don't be like that. Juice is a cool guy." And Carter was one of his biggest defenders next to Aleah. They'd been hanging out, playing video games like two overgrown dorks, and doing guy things together. I didn't know why he wanted to hang out with Carter when he had a whole club full of supposed brothers.

"I don't know why you hang out with him. You have other friends." I reminded him thinking of Logan his bff. I needed to figure out a way to introduce him to Aleah, get her a normal boyfriend. If that girl even knew what normal was anymore.

Carter just gave me one of his million dollar grins and patted the couch beside him. "We get along. We have the same interests. Only I don't kill people, beat women, and drink like a fish."

_Or wear a cut on your back _I thought to myself. I'd always wanted a Son. Something about that leather and the motorcycle had me hooked. I loved being at Aleah's before she went weird on me, always getting to be around the hotness that was the MC. The guys were older but that didn't dilute the sexy any in my opinion. Especially not the older, raspy voiced man that had hit on me when he did my tattoo. He was gorgeous. Old enough to be my Dad sure, but still fuck able if I didn't have Carter around.

"Thank God for that." I told him curling up beside him like we were conjoined. "Don't let him talk you into getting the stupid haircut either."

"We were going to do it tomorrow actually." He kissed my forehead then the tip of my nose. "Besides, your best friend is the one dating him, not me."

I tilted my head to give him a kiss on his lips, always the same cinnamon gum taste. "I know, I gotta talk her out of it soon."

"Be nice baby. I kinda told him we'd go out on a double date soon too." He dared to say looking sheepish. "One night won't kill you. He did fix us up."

I snorted remembering the night I met Carter. Juice had palmed me off on him. I'd drank entirely too much, could barely even walk. I'd been chatting off and on with Carter all night so when he told me Juice said it was cool if I left with him, me in my drunken state didn't think it was a big deal. Until I sobered up. Then I wanted to kill the Mohawked biker with his own knife. It was embarrassing as hell to wake up next to a guy you'd known for 12hours and not know his name.

Carter was a perfect gentlemen about it though. He'd slept under a separate blanket, completely clothed, and I was in my own blanket completely clothed. He'd taken my shoes off at least. He'd kissed me a few times and after I tried countless times to get him naked, he finally told me he wasn't interested. Way to kill my ego.

"Remind to thank him again for sending my drunk ass home with a stranger."

He grinned at me kissing my lips softly pulling me into his lap. "Be nice or I'll take your Valentines present back."

"No way in hell are you getting it." I replied quickly looking down at my hand at the sparkling promise ring. I'd always thought promise rings were a joke, but now I was completely down for it. I loved the ring almost as much as I loved him.

"Didn't think you'd give it up." Carter chuckled. "Wish you'd let me do more for you."

This was a constant battle with us. We'd only been together a couple of months but were totally in love. And because of that Carter wanted to help me with things around the apartment like the bills, groceries, car stuff, or moving me in with him. I wasn't ready to live together just yet, I wanted to enjoy having my own space for a while. After living between my parents run down house, and the Morrows palace, I needed it.

"I can handle things." I assured him kissing just his bottom lip. "What night are we going out with your bro-friend? I told Lyla I'd keep Piper one night this week so she could get out for a while too."

Lyla was one of the CaraCara girls that had started at the studio around the same time as I did. She was a couple of years older than I was, but we got along great. She had the cutest little boy and I'd been trying to help her out by watching him once or twice a week so she could salvage her social life. I knew all too well what it was like to be without any family to help you out. She was on the track to becoming my new best friend since my old one was ditching me for 170 lbs of leather, sex, and tattoos.

Carter just shrugged his wide shoulders pushing me around in his lap so he could rub my shoulders with his huge hands. They reminded me of paws. "He said he'd have to play it by ear, and Aleah is free on whatever days she doesn't have school. We were thinking about FunTown though."

I rolled my blue eyes at the word FunTown. Clowns freaked me out since I was a kid. I could still remember Mama Gemma talking me and Aleah into getting our pictures taken with one. We'd screamed for an hour afterwards until she bought us cotton candy to shut us up. That woman had more patience than anyone I'd ever known. She was a strong bitch too, I knew things weren't easy around there now that I was older. The older I got, the more things I picked up on. My parents weren't that great about not spouting off about the Morrow's either. They'd said countless times that I was going to play with white trash, or to a biker whores house.

Gemma was twice the parent either of them had ever even thought about being. My own mom told me I had to get out of the house when I turned 18 back in November right after I got out of the hospital. Gemma was the one that offered to let me stay with her until I could get on my feet then helped me get on with Luann. Porn wasn't something my parents wanted me doing so they pretty much stopped talking to me after I told them. No big loss there. I was better off without them anyways. The only parents that cared about me weren't even blood relatives.

"Big bad tough guys like you two want to go to FunTown?" I asked moaning when he rubbed the sore spot between my shoulders. Working on your knees had its downside.

Carter pushed me down on the couch onto my stomach so he could reach my full back. "Yep. Wanna go down the tunnel of love with my baby."

I laughed picturing him squeezing into one of the cheesy geese that went down the fake lake track. "We can make out on the couch for free." I pointed out. I was all about saving the money. I scrimped anyway I could on anything. Hot dogs and cereal were my normal meals unless he took me somewhere or brought something. Water was my choice of beverage.

"Don't worry about how much it cost." He sighed pushing my thin t-shirt up to reveal my bare skin. "I have money. Clay pays pretty good. Guess he has to to put up with all the crazy stuff that goes on around there. You know Jax had me wash blood off the side of the tow truck earlier?"

"Better not mention that to just anyone." I warned him knowing exactly how violent these guys could be. "And Pops isn't doing too bad for cash."

"I'm not stupid. I'm telling you cuz I know you won't say nothing." He tickled my sides a little bit. "You know you have scars back here."

I knew I had scars on my back. On my face, on my arms. Make up hid it from the camera at work. It was the result of being jumped and beaten to a pulp by 5 Mexican bikers. All because I went ,like a dumbass, to help Juice after he had his ass beat. Stupidest thing I'd ever done was try to be nice to that putz. It got me a week in the hospital, a broken nose, two black eyes, and fractured ribs. And all he'd said was "I'm so sorry" before breaking up with my best friend.

I grabbed a throw pillow to stuff under my head to prop up on. "I know. Its from the ass kicking I got going over to Juice's place."

Carter didn't say anything. I knew like Aleah, he didn't think it was appropriate for me to go over there alone. A job was a job, and I needed the cash too bad to say no at the time though. He didn't get it just like Aleah didn't. It'd took some convincing to get it through his head that I wasn't fucking Juice. He said he'd already asked Juice about it but he didn't really expect a straight answer from a guy like him about it. He didn't realize Juice was a whore, he didn't mind sharing anything with anyone if you asked. I'd found way too many empty condom wrappers when I cleaned up his place not to know they weren't all being used with Aleah. I kept my mouth shut for the right reason; not hurting my friend.

I couldn't be the one to tell her he'd cheated on her at some point in their relationship. I knew they had the whole if it happens on a run its ok clause, but this wasn't on a run. This was at his house, in Charming. And he didn't even try to hide the evidence from me. Yet he claimed to love her so much. It was a fucking joke. Aleah definitely loved him, she was all about Juice. Her whole world was set by what he said or did. He drove me crazy when he was out of town and he'd call to see where she was. Can ya say overprotective much?

"Me and Lyla are talking about splitting a place together. It'd make it easier on both of us." I told him to see how he'd react to this. "She's drowning in money problems just like me."

"Or you could move with me. My place is bigger." He reasoned his warm fingers still massaging. The man had a gift, the magic touch. "And you wouldn't have to pay any bills except your cell and car insurance. If you wanted to."

I frowned into the faux suede pillow thinking on it for a moment before pushing the idea away again. "I don't think so. Its kind of soon for that hon." That was a laugh for us, two and a half months and we were already on the I love you, lets promise to get married one day stage.

"Not really. I like being around you. You keep me on my toes." He leaned down and kissed the small of my back. "The yin- to my yang."

"That's cheesy." I laughed rolling over to face him. "Maybe in a few months after my lease is up. I dunno sugar. We'll see."

Carter grinned flashing his pearly whites at me. "We'll see is almost always a yes."

"I'm not making any promises." I told him holding a finger up. "Don't go getting me a closet cleared out just yet."

"Let's get something to eat. C'mon. My treat." He sat back pulling me up. "Let's celebrate, my girlfriend is considering moving in with me."

I just giggled following him to the kitchen where the order in menus were at, letting him chose whatever one he wanted. I loved being around this huge hunk of a man. The gentle giant.

A week later

FunTown woooo. I was still trying to get myself psyched up for tonight. After working all day covered in chocolate pudding in very sensitive areas, the last thing I really wanted to do was go out with doofus and Carter. Aleah sure, the guys, not to much.

Lee was on her way over to get ready at my place after school since it was closer to the college than Pops house was. I was hoping we'd have some time for girl talk before the guys got off from the garage or whatever it was the Mohawked wonder boy was doing today. I heard the quiet little raps on the door and rushed over to it, still wrapped up in my towel. "Hey Chiquita" I grinned stepping back to let Aleah inside.

She gave me a smile back, her eyes hidden behind a pair of huge shades. "Hey girl. Been a few days." She gave me a small hug tossing her car keys down on the secondhand kitchen table.

"I know. Can you believe we used to spend every minute together and now we're lucky to get a phone call in?" I led her into my small bedroom. I didn't have much inside of it. Just a bed frame with a queen mattress, dresser with a TV on top, and a nightstand. Nothing to write home about.

"I know. I've just been slammed with school is all." Aleah explained unzipping the purple make up bag she'd brought in with her. "I didn't even do make up before I left today."

She finally lifted the shades revealing dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days and I noticed how pale she'd become. "I see that. Want some help?" I offered getting dressed in jeans and a leopard print top with a bow in the back.

Aleah nodded her head sitting down in front of the full length mirror I had propped up against the wall. I slid down beside her going to work. It almost felt old times. I rubbed foundation along her skin blending it in expertly, I'd picked up a few tricks from working with Luann. "Juice is on his way back from Oregon. He said he'd be here on time though."

"Oregon huh? What's he doing way in the hell over there?" I asked curiously.

"No idea. Just riding with some of the guys." She was lying I could tell. That was fine, I guess we were past the stage of confiding everything to each other. "He's been gone a couple of days."

I grabbed my brushes selecting one for her eyes starting on the eye shadow. "Mmmmhmmm.. You guys are usually pretty attached. I was wondering how you got away."

Aleah cracked a grin at my comment. "I got out for good behavior."

I chewed on the inside of my bottom lip before deciding I would dare to say this. "I tried calling you a few times last week. Every time I called or text Juice told me you were sick and couldn't come to the phone. Wouldn't ever tell me what was wrong with you."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry I didn't call back. I really was sick. Throwing up, sweats, you know." She opened her eyes glancing in the mirror at my work. "I'll finish." I handed her the mascara wand and started brushing my hair out.

"Is he… still a sweet guy?" I blurted out worried about my friend.

Aleah let out a laugh that sounded like a snort then laughed some more. "Yes he's still a sweet guy. Don't worry, he didn't have me locked in a closet or anything. I really was sick."

If that's what she said, then I decided I had to believe her. I slipped a pair of flip flops on, as ready as I'd ever get. "That must be Carter. Or Juice." I heard the knocking at the door.

I hurried to open it finding both of them standing outside. Carter looked like a chip off of Mr. Rogers standing next to Juice in his black pants, red shirt, and leather cut. He'd put Nikes on I'd give him that much for the effort to look normal. "Hey handsome." I cooed to Carter leaning up to peck his chin. "Juice." I gave him a look getting a grin in return that told me he was doing it just because it would annoy me.

"Nice to see you too Jess."

Aleah came out of my room dropping her make up back in her purse. "Hey Jess, would you mind if I grabbed a shirt? I forgot I spilled a huge glob of mustard earlier and I really don't want to run back home."

Juice reached towards her, his hand grazing her ass before he gave her a quick kiss. "Yeah sure. C'mon then we can go."

I went to the closet throwing a few shirts down for her to pick from. She grabbed a red one that had a lace backing to it. I watched her pull her own shirt off frowning at the sight of my friends body. Aleah had never been bony, or tiny. But now she was. "You've lost some weight." I commented.

"A little. It must be from Juice's clean eating kick." She flashed me grin slipping back out to the living room.

"I know man, it was pretty fuckin epic." Juice was saying when we walked in. "Never would have thought to try it that way either."

I grabbed my purse and keys. "Are we riding together?" I asked wondering suddenly how this was going to work out. I couldn't picture Juice being okay with riding a car with three other people. Or Carter fitting in the backseat.

Juice shook his head quickly at me. "Nope. We'll take my bike. Come back for Lee's car later tonight."

So we were off. It only took a couple of minutes to get over to the fairgrounds and holy moly it was packed when we did get there. There were plenty of kids running around, plus adults, eating cotton candy and waiting for rides. It'd been a couple of years since I'd came to this place. It hadn't changed much except now I was tall enough for all of the rides. I walked with Aleah behind the guys while they talked about mechanics, and ya da ya da.

"Want to grab some food with me?" I asked Aleah seeing the food carts advertising corn dogs, funnel cakes, chicken on a stick, and a million other greasy, sugary, heart attack inducing foods.

She glanced over at the booth reading what it had to offer. "I could probably go for a corn dog." She said finally.

The guys had stopped walking when we did and were giving us impatient hurry up looks. "We're hungry." I told Carter with a grin.

"Here babe. Get what you want." Carter dug into his back pocket for his wallet to get me money out. "We're gonna go to the shoot out stand."

Juice handed Aleah a fistful of crumpled money in a glove covered hand. "Make sure you eat." He advised her looking serious. "Something besides crystallized sugar in a bag too."

Aleah waved him off after she'd taken his cash. "I'm a big girl." She stuck her tongue out at him going to get in line.

"Hovers huh?" I smirked while we waited behind a lady with three screaming kids.

"Just a little." She grinned "Listen, can you order for me? I need to run to the bathroom real fast."

I shrugged not caring. "Sure. I'll wait for you at the tables if you're not out before I get our stuff."

Aleah was off in a flash, she stayed gone long enough for me to order and get our chicken on a stickers, blooming onion, and a funnel cake to split. Stomach ache guaranteed. I elbowed my way through the condiment station bumping into a man in khakis, wool shirt, and shiny black shoes. _Point Dexter dork _I thought to myself. "Sorry." I apologized grabbing some napkins.

The man turned to face me then freezing me in place. Mr. Thompson. I stared at him a moment before snatching the napkins and taking off before he could speak. I felt shaky when I sat down at the table with my knees bouncing up and down. I'd hoped I'd never have to see that hideous man's face again in my life. I'd just started to forget him.

"_Ms. Linson, can you give me a moment after class? Its about your paper." Mr. Thompson asked with a creepy smile. _

"_Sure." I forced a smile back at the man. He was a weirdo. He always seemed to brush against students in the oddest ways. _

_I stayed behind when the bell rang signaling class was over. I gathered my books up slowly while he shut the door. I felt my heart leap when I heard him lock it. "Well… Ms. Linson, I think you know why I kept you."_

"_No?" I stood up grabbing my backpack ready to run for it. Something was way off here. _

"_I saw the way you've been looking at me. Your eyes following me like hair on a dog." He gave me a yellow toothed grin. "Your paper was incomplete, I thought we could work something out."_

_I felt the bile start to rise in my throat. "I need to go." I whispered starting for the door when he was over at my side in a flash grabbing me. _

"_We're just getting started." Mr. Thompson hissed his breath smelling horrid. _

_I jerked my arm from his grasp trying to push past him. Wrong choice. He pushed me back hard, pushing me against the brick wall. "Let me go."_

"_You want this. You've wanted this for a while."_

_He was struggling to undo his zipper and hold me down at the same time when I saw the opportunity and kneed him as hard as I could in the balls. "Fuck! You stupid little bitch!" he roared doubled over in pain. "I'm trying to do you a favor!"_

"_Stay away from me!" I snapped throwing things off of his desk at him on my dash to the door. _

"_You're going to regret this. No one will believe you if you tell either. Everyone knows you're only good for that sweet pussy between those legs."_

"Hey, you ok?" Aleah nudged me sitting down beside me, she'd pulled her hair up into a bun. "You're spacing out."

"Huh? Yeah.. I'm fine. Here comes the guys." I stammered out taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves.

Juice hopped onto the bench carrying a huge bright pink gorilla in his arms. "Don't even ask me how we're getting it on the Dyna."

Aleah laughed loudly taking it from him to sit beside us on our side. Carter was picking through our food getting little pinches of everything. "We'll put in the Tahoe." He volunteered nodding at Juice.

"Awesome. Thanks man." He grabbed Aleah's drink taking a gulp from it. "You ok baby?"

"I'm perfect. Perfectly perfect." She replied coolly taking her drink back from him. "Just trying to eat in peace."

Juice gave her a look I couldn't read and she threw it right back. He just sighed loudly and shook his head. "You want to grab our own food since the women didn't think ahead about their hungry men?"

"I know, greedy huh?" Carter laughed going to the cart with Juice.

Those two were a bad influence on each other. I watched them joking around in line until Juice tripped over a power cord leading to the cart and fell into the condiment table. "Balance and Juice don't mix." I laughed watching him get up with a big grin on his face. At least the little idiot had a good sense of humor.

"He's a walking disaster." Aleah laughed agreeing with me. The next highlight happened a minute later when Juice tapped the mustard on the table to get it to come out and it squirted all over the surface instead. "Jesus. I can't take him anywhere."

Carter luckily, was a lot more coordinated than Juice was. He helped his friend clean up the mess before they came back and ate. We were waiting in line for the Grav-a-tron when Aleah started to finally act enthused about being out. She was hopping around not able to stand still a huge grin on her face. Juice just looked annoyed as she jabbered to us. Her good mood lasted the rest of the night until we parted ways.

"They are one strange couple." I voiced the minute the door shut.

Carter just laughed and sat down on my couch. "No stranger than any other couple. No stranger than us. The beastly mechanic and the beautiful porn star."

"Beastly isn't how I'd describe you." I curled up in his lap. "Maybe…. Sexy. Hot. Well endowed." I gave him a wicked grin .

"You can't quit from there quick enough." He sighed playing with my hair. "I can't stand it."

I didn't say anything back. I knew he hated my job. He'd said so more than enough times and then refused to watch any of the movies I brought home. "Let's just… be together." I said softly touching his cheek.

"You're it for me, you know that Jess?"

"I know. You're it for me too."


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for the follows and the reviews :D I know a lot of you didn't care for the Jess chapter but this is a regular ole Juice and Aleah mix up now. Not one of my favorite chapters personally, but it was one of those that just couldn't flow good for me. Hope you all like it though!**

**Thanks and appreciation to Jessica of course. :D**

Chapter 14 The party never stops

I had no idea what I was going to do. Tig had cut me off of the blow supply I needed to wean Aleah back off of it. I had no other resources and I was getting pretty desperate. I only had a few hours before she'd start getting sick from not getting even a tiny fix. Tig had told me he thought that whoever I'd been buying for had a serious problem and gave me a stare down that should've broke me into a million pieces.

I hunched over my toolbox trying to figure out how in the hell I was going to score when Carter strode in from his break. "Hey Juice. We still on for tonight?" He called out setting his Styrofoam cup from the diner down.

Inspiration struck me. "Sure. Could you do me a favor before you come over?" I skulked over to him, the wheels turning in my head.

"Whatcha need man?" Carter asked looking curious, grabbing his work shirt to slip back on over his beater. I frowned a little noticing for the first time the guy had some ink running down his arms that he must try to hide by the way he dressed.

I leaned closer towards him knowing there was a huge chance he'd say no to this. I probably would. "You think you could go to Jeff's house…. Maybe pick up a couple grams for me?"

Carter's mouth went to a straight line, his green eyes narrowing at me. "I don't know about that. I don't want to get mixed up in that stuff."

"Please. Just this one time until I figure something out. She's been doing good for a couple of days dude. I can't just pull her off cold turkey, she'll have a heart attack or some shit." I explained trying to prey on this guys soft spots for women. "I have the cash for it now. I'll get you the bail money when you get to the house."

He picked at a scab on his greasy hands thinking on this. I was ready to give up on him when he finally nodded at me. "Yeah. I'll do it. Just this one time. And no one ever finds out I did it either okay?"

Relief flooded my body. I wanted to grab the dude and kiss him. "Sweet. Thanks bro." I clapped him on the back to show my appreciation. "Here's the cash. ." I pulled my on my wallet chain getting Carter a few bills out.

"Damn. How much does this stuff cost?" He whistled looking at the money I'd handed him.

"Too fuckin much. I'm going broke." And no joking around, I really was. I was hitting on $4000 up Aleah's nose since December. Saturday was St. Patrick's day marking it right at 4 months. 4 months and she'd gotten addicted worse than anyone I'd personally ever known. Except Lowell maybe. Or Wendy.

He stuffed the money in his pockets looking shocked at the amount of money I'd dished out. "Whoa. That's… insane…." He nodded at something behind me letting his words lead off to a drop.

I turned seeing Bobby approaching us holding my cut out for me. "What's up?" I took it from him slipping it on over my Reaper shirt. "We headin out?"

"Just you and me kid. Gotta make a trip to Lodi. The ex is havin some problems around the store with computer shit. I told her you'd take a look at it." Bobby's ex wife was common knowledge of being a crazy lady.

"No problem. Let's roll. I'll call you when I get back into town." I told Carter giving him a wave as I followed Bobby over to our bikes. "I'm guessin we're workin off child support today?"

"You guessed right."

We pulled up to the store front 30minutes later, backing in next to a jet black Avenger. I followed Bobby inside the store trying to mentally prepare for myself for the wild woman. A strawberry blonde haired lady threw herself forwards, a cigarette dangling off her lips that were covered in bright red lipstick. "Its about damn time you got here." She snapped her eyes flashing at Bobby. The crazy lady.

"Juice, this is Precious. Precious this is your guy." He introduced us obviously trying to play nice with the ex.

Precious eyed me over giving me a suspicious look before jerking her head at the wrap around desk. "Behind there. Everything crashed went black. Fat ass here told me a while back he knew a guy. Expected someone…. Different."

I gave her a goofy grin going to sit down behind the desk. She was right, it was black. I started in on the two computers while Bobby attempted conversation with the ex who kept snapping back at him. Every now and then I could hear her cuss Bobby and grinned when he just sat back and took it. It was good to know I wasn't the only guy in the MC that let a woman walk all over him. I typed away when I got the system to start booting up, trying to fix the script errors. This stuff was a mess. I'd been working for about two hours when I couldn't do anything more without my stuff.

"Any luck with that dinosaur?" A sweet, feminine voice asked from over my shoulder.

"Some. Its.. Old." I glanced over to see who it was behind me watching me work. A girl. No. A woman. A very hot, very pretty woman. She had legs up to her elbows, boobs that definitely weren't real, and very tan skin with dark red hair that was long and curly. Just the way I liked it. She was wearing a cute outfit as far as my knowledge of chicks clothing went. A little skirt that poofed out some with a long shirt black shirt that went to her hips. Her eyes though….. Wow…

The mystery girl smiled asking me something I didn't hear. I stared a moment longer before I shook my head, snapping out of my trance. "What?" I blurted out not even trying to hide that I wasn't paying attention.

She giggled touching the screen with her nail. "I said, will it be up and running today?"

"Ohh. No. Probably not." I needed to run back to Charming to get some software discs to update these ancient pieces of junk.

Bobby leaned over the desk, a knowing grin on his face. "Juice, did you meet Brandi here? She's been a friend of the family for years."

"Whose family? Not the one you divorced from, asshole." snapped Precious propping herself up on an elbow on the desk.

Brandi huh? She looked like a Brandi. I held a hand out to her shaking her smaller one gently. "Nice to meet you."

Brandi gave me a small smile sitting down in the desk chair beside me, crossing those long perfect looking legs. I noticed she had heels on and knew I needed to get the hell out of here before I had a noticeable bulge in my jeans. I loved heels. "You too. I'm Juice like Bobby said."

"Juice? How in the hell did you get a name like that? Do I even want to know?" She laughed sounding like a tinkling bell. Her teeth showed when she laughed like that, bright white and perfect. Kinda looked like veneers to be honest.

"Not really." I admitted thinking back on how I'd gotten the nickname a few years ago. It wasn't a story to share with the ladies. "Listen Precious, I need to go grab some stuff and come back. Maybe tomorrow morning if you can operate until then."

Precious didn't look too thrilled with that news, she popped Bobby in the arm giving him a dark look. "You should have came when I called last night you piece of shit."

I couldn't help but grin at the way he took it, automatically apologizing. Brandi caught my eye and grinned back shaking her head. "So, what time will you be back at … Juice?"

"Early. Probably 8 or 9." I hated to get up that early but I had other shit to do tomorrow besides work off Bobby's child support. "You comin to assist?" I let that slip out before I even realized I was flirting. Two days after I promised no more cheating or fucking around in any way. Now I had guilt gut starting, a pit in the bottom of my stomach.

"Sure. If you're going to be here, I'll be here. Maybe I'll bring you some of my special coffee." Brandi smiled touching my rough hand with hers. "Then you can show me a few things."

There was something in the way of how she said that, that made my dick twitch. She was talking about computers, I was thinking about a few other things I could show her. I grinned in spite of having a very pretty, very loving girlfriend one town over and said "And then some."

When we were mounting our bikes to head back Bobby smirked at me, clipping his helmet strap on. "Little girl beats your ass over cheating, and two days later you're hitting on a redhead. Didn't you learn your lesson?"

I shrugged, not really having any intentions of doing anything with Brandi now that we were away from her. My mind had straightened back out. "I can still look. And she didn't beat my ass. I told you, it was a sex thing."

Sex thing was my cover story for everyone except the few that knew the truth. Gemma, Clay, Jax, and Opie all knew the truth. Or most of it. The others just thought we'd got carried in a kinky role-play thing. I wasn't a rough sex kinda guy in general, but if it saved me face in front of the club, I'd roll with it. Unser had told Gemma, who told Clay, then Clay had told me I needed to get control over "my woman". Fat chance of that.

I rolled off towards my house hoping she was there waiting for me. I grinned, twisting the throttle when I turned onto my block spotting her car parked in my driveway. "I'll see you later!" I yelled to Bobby who gave me a wave going towards TM.

I wasn't even completely off my Dyna before Aleah opened up the door beaming at me. "Hey doll." I called over to her climbing off. I gave the neighbors kids a nod before they took off inside their house, probably scared the big bad biker next door was home.

"Hey you." Aleah grinned wrapping her arms around my waist when I made it to the doorway. "Where ya been all day handsome?"

I kissed her once, then thought about it and gave her another kiss sliding my arms around her too. "Workin on Precious's computers at her store." I noticed something and sniffed again. "You smell like me."

"I needed a shower. Someone threw up on my foot today at work." She made a face feeling up my back giving me goose bumps. "Didn't think you'd mind if I used yours."

"Should have waited for me." I whispered kicking the door shut to stop the peep show we were giving the neighborhood. "I could definitely go for a shower with you. Anytime."

Aleah giggled leaning on her tip toes to kiss my jaw before she pulled away going to the kitchen. "Maybe I'll take another later. I thought you were having a guys night tonight anyways."

"I am. Just waitin on him to get here. Half Sack was supposed to get everything today. You havin a girls thing?" I watched her open the pizza box on the counter and take a slice of pepperoni.

"Yeah, we rented a couple of movies. Might go cruising for guys." She winked at me her dark eyes sparkling. "What about you?"

I grabbed myself a beer from the fridge noting that I'd need to run out for more if we planned on having a full on buzz tonight. "Fixin the walls and bathroom door that my crazy little girlfriend tore apart."

Aleah rolled her eyes while she chewed swallowing a couple of times before she spoke. "Crazy huh? Now you know what happens if you cheat."

"Trust me, I got the picture. Loud and clear babe. No worries there." I nodded at the pizza. "How much do I owe you for grabbing that?"

"Nothing. I can afford pizza you know. Dad's not a total scrooge with me."

I frowned, not liking her spending the little bit of allowance she got. Clay gave her exactly what he thought she needed for gas and food each week. I knew he was trying to push her into adulthood easy by doing that, but in all truth, Aleah had a lot of growing up to do. "So….. You sleepin over here tonight?"

"Maybe. If I'm invited." Aleah smirked wiping her mouth with a napkin. I was glad to know I didn't even have to bug her about eating anything tonight. "And if my boyfriend promises to give me a little motivation."

I shot her a dark look going to the stash drawer I kept my Adderall in, and grabbed the bottle. "There any reason why?" I popped the pill into my mouth swallowing it down with my beer. Pills and alcohol were always good together right? I paused wondering if I needed to take another one, I'd forgotten my morning dose and decided against it before I tossed the bottle back in the drawer.

"Just… tired." She picked a non existent loose string on her… no.. MY shirt. One of my white wife beaters that hung down to her little thighs. "I've been doing pretty good."

Two days of having low dosages of coke was NOT doing good in my opinion. "We'll see." I heard a car door slam. "Carter's here."

"I better go." We kissed just when Carter stepped inside the house, knocking once then letting himself in. I squeezed her ass one last time before I let her go. "I'll be back. Love you."

"Always." I gave Carter the guy nod of 'hello' "What's up?"

Carter nodded back, he'd changed into a pair of ratty jeans and a sleeveless shirt revealing the tats I'd noticed earlier. "Nothin much. Ready to finish this shit up?"

"Yeah. Gotta finish before my landlord gets here in a couple days or my ass is grass." I surveyed the holes remembering when I'd slammed my fist into the wall. "When'd you get tatted?"

Carter glanced down at his arms as we went out to his truck to haul in the stuff we needed to finish the walls. "A few years ago. Thought I was some bad ass. You know the story."

I did know the story. I'd done a background check on Carter when he first got hired and he had a pretty interesting story for a guy that acted like Mr. Rogers on a daily basis. I was a nice guy too, but he really tipped the iceberg with it. Carter was an ex car thief, did some time in juvie for boosting, and a few charges of illegal street racing. Nothing too bad, or violent but I was willing to bet Jess didn't know about any of that. Especially not the bit about the chop shop he was running.

"Yeah. Maybe one day you'll move on from those pussy ass import cages to something real."

He snorted looking at my bike parked beside us on our way back into the house. "I have a bike."

That was news to me. I knew he liked them, his cousin Jeff did too, but I didn't know either of them even rode. He was great at fixing them even, he'd pieced my baby back together after I went down. "Oh yeah? What you pushing?"

And that's what started the guy talk for the night. We chatted over Harleys vs. anything else for a while, working the whole entire time. Then we moved onto the bigger and better things. Women. "So you actually got a thing for Jess huh?"

"Yeah. I love her. Tryin to get her to move in with me, quit that porn shit." He dragged on the beer I'd handed him. We were sitting in front of the TV watching Game of Thrones in a trance, neither of us able to look away to even think about finishing the last patch up.

"I'd have to kill Aleah before I let her fuck for money." I admitted not liking to even put that scenario in my head. "And that's if Clay didn't kill Luann for suggesting it first."

Carter tore his eyes away from the screen long enough to glance at me. "Why don't you like her?" He asked me looking serious suddenly.

I frowned thinking about the blonde trying to remember when I decided I didn't like her. "I think we stopped liking each other when I had to go pick the two of them up from a party dressed like sluts." I could tell from the look on his that was news to him. "They were pretty much naked, asses hanging out, and Jessica kept givin me shit until I called her a whore."

"Damn. I never heard about that."

I felt in the pocket of my cut for a joint and lit it up offering it over to Carter, after a pause he took it from me. "Yep. Those girls are trouble together. Almost worse than me and Aleah are together." I knew me and my girl were like a toxic combo, we made each other want to do things we'd never think about twice otherwise.

"She your Old Lady?" He asked taking another hit before handing it back.

"Nah. Just a girlfriend for now. She needs to grow up before she gets that status. Learn a few things." I knew as an Old Lady, Aleah would never make it before she got me or her or maybe both in trouble. "Hey did you get that?" I asked realizing he'd never told me if he'd been able to score for me.

He nodded reaching into his pocket and tossing the baggies at me. "Yep. Jeff said he knew who I wanted it for but he was going to sell it to me anyways on account of he's scared you'll kick his ass."

I snorted loudly standing up from the couch to go to the stash drawer. It was the second drawer in the row underneath the utensils. "How much do I owe you for the bail the other night?"

Carter followed me into the kitchen grabbing another piece of the pizza on the counter. "$200. Said it wasn't a heavy charge." His eyes were on my hands when I counted out the twenties for him. "So… is the…money pretty good in the MC?"

I shrugged stuffing what was left of the roll into my cuts inner pocket. "Its decent. I have a little saved up. Hopefully I can move over to the corner with the rest of the guys soon."

"How'd you get in?"

That wasn't a question I was expecting from Carter. He knew who we were, and what we did behind the garage front. He wasn't an idiot. "Why? You wanting to Prospect?" I laughed picturing Carter on a bike with a cut on his back.

Carter didn't laugh though. He was giving me a very serious look. "Maybe. I thought about it. I ride, and it looks like its decent pay. Can't be that bad."

I looked at the guy next to me curiously. He'd never shown any interest in the club before, had even seemed paranoid to work for us. "You become a hang around, make it known you want to Prospect, find a sponsor, if you get voted in then you spend a year proving yourself. Tough shit."

"We better get that damn door put up before we're too drunk and high to do it straight.

I stood in the yard smoking a cigarette, checking my messages while Carter got the door out of the truck. "Holy shit!" I yelled out ducking just from the shock of the explosion in the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Carter looked amazed at the sky on the outskirts of town.

I knew exactly what it was and my phone ringing a few seconds later confirmed it. "Shit. Shit. I gotta go man."

Aleah's POV

I was at the garage bright and early, even a few minutes early. The guys were all gone, Dad had left before it was even dawn telling Mom there was an emergency so I didn't even try to get up with Juice yet. I knew he'd be with the rest of them. I had a feeling whatever their emergency was had something to do with the warehouse that blew up last night.

"Want some coffee?" Half Sack asked standing in the doorway, somehow blocking the light with his beanpole frame. "I just made a fresh pot."

"Sure. I don't feel so great today." I took the cup he handed me not even bothering to stir in my mounds of sugar with it. "The guys out?"

He nodded his head up and down peeking out into the garage. "Yeah. Guess I should get back over to the clubhouse for when they get back. Have their shit ready."

"Don't you get sick of waiting on them?" I asked him feeling sorry for the guy. Half Sack got treated even worse than Juice did when he prospected and Juice still got the short end sometimes. Everyone thought he was a goof.

"Nah. Its my job. I'll be next door if you need me though Aleah. You look nice by the way." He smiled at me sweetly backing out of the door before taking off.

I smiled at his compliment, glad my make up wasn't being totally wasted today. I put a little effort into myself this morning. Jeans stuffed into a pair of brown riding boots, yellow tube top and a little denim jacket. Hair was curly just like Juice liked it. I stayed steady, stopping only once or twice to step outside for some air when the guys rumbled in. No one looked the least bit happy.

I stayed where I was waiting to see if Juice would come over to me before I went to him, frowning when they all went straight into the clubhouse. I didn't even get a smile before my Mohawked boyfriend disappeared with the crowd. "Hey Lee, you think I could get you to call this lady and tell her that its her transmission after all before I start pulling it just in case she doesn't want me to bother?" Carter asked coming inside with a clipboard.

"Sure. What else am I here for?" I sighed taking the papers from him. "How was man night?"

Carter shrugged watching Lowell roll a tire around he was dipping into the water trough checking for leaks. "It was okay. Just men. Doing man things." He grinned. "How was chick night?"

"It was fun. Just… girl things." I threw back at him grinning back. "I'll give this woman a call and get back to you hon."

I got back to the desk arguing with the woman over prices for a few minutes when the guys finally got out of chapel. Juice wandered over to the office his usual goofy grin on his face now. "Hey baby." He leaned down kissing my neck nuzzling his nose in my hair. "You never came over last night."

"Figured you were out with Dad. He left right about the time I made it home to grab my stuff from the house." I explained tilting my head for him to kiss my neck again. "Wish I would've though."

"Mmmhmm… You miss me or something?" Juice whispered his warm breath tickling my ear.

"Or something." I smirked turning in the chair so he fit between my legs. "We could-"

Dad cut in sounding annoyed. "Juice! Get on that intel and off my daughter!" walking in the office giving us both a death look. "This shits pressing."

Juice pulled back nodding at Dad, to me a simple. "See you later Lee."

I patted my hair down trying to look busy. "What's wrong Pops?" I asked quietly knowing by the way his body was tensed something major had happened.

"Same old shit Aleah. You ok? You look… different." Dad frowned at me looking at me a little too hard.

Nervously, I pulled on my shirt knowing I did look different. I'd lost an easy 15lbs in four months and it showed. Almost in a bad way. "I lost some weight. Trying to get healthy you know. Listen, I can handle things here for you don't worry about TM. Carter's here and so is Lowell."

He nodded appreciatively pushing his shades back on heading back out towards his bike. "We'll be back."

I almost regretted saying I could handle everything here when two hours later I was pushed to the brink by a lady fussing at me over not taking a check from her. We had huge signs everywhere saying just that but she wouldn't take no for an answer until I finally snapped at her. "Look lady, I'm not getting my ass chewed because you can't get it through your god damn head that we don't accept checks. Now I will gladly take cash or credit. Otherwise, I'll keep your car."

She puffed her body up giving me a shitty look before snatching her purse around herself. "Fine. I will be complaining about you to the manager."

I held my hand out to her, my mood getting increasingly worse by the second. "Aleah Morrow. That's the Morrow in the ownership. Teller comes from my mom's other husband."

The woman clicked her tongue thrusting cash at me before snatching her keys from my hand. "Well I won't be back then. Thanks a lot."

I waved her off glaring at her back when she stalked way peeling out of the parking lot. "What'd you do to the customer?" Juice laughed all the guys coming back out of the clubhouse again.

"I wouldn't take her rubber check." I rolled my eyes grabbing onto the sides of his cut to pull us closer together. "You got time for me now?"

"Mmmm. A little." Juice grinned down at me leaning in for a kiss when a car blaring car horn jolted us back apart. Mom was wailing on the horn waving for Jax to come over.

I frowned seeing how hurried she was when she climbed out of the car searching frantically. "Mom, what's wrong?" I asked just as Jax made it over to us.

"Jax, I tried calling. Wendy's in the hospital."

A cold shock went through me, thinking about my pregnant sister in law. I hurried off into the office to grab my purse and phone. "I'm going with you." I told her hurrying around to the passenger side before we sped off.

I stayed at the hospital the rest of the day, glued to Mom's side worrying over poor tiny little Abel. I just wanted to curl up and cry when Tara let us glimpse at him. Seeing Tara again was a huge shock to Mom and Jax, I'd told them she was back in town when I started doing clinicals but that was completely different from seeing her face to face. I could tell Jax was unsettled with her being so close, and Mom was livid. I didn't care either way as long as she was the best choice to help the little guy. My heart ached every time I peeked at him through the window of his chamber.

"Come on kid. I'll give you a ride back to TM for your car." Dad told me throwing his arm over my shoulders in a hug while we walked down the hallway. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd hopped on the back of his bike. It'd been that long.

"Sure. I'm ready to get home and hit the sack." I sighed leaning onto his shoulder while we went out of the sliding glass doors. "I'll probably just grab my car and go home. I'll see Juice tomorrow."

Dad shrugged pulling his arm off when we made it to his bike and held his helmet out to me. "Whatever you want to do kid. Let's get out of here."

I climbed on the back holding on tightly, Dad was a way different driver than Juice was. He didn't go as fast, or turn as sharp. He kind of cruised us through town at a slow pace until we made it back to the shop. A party was raging on in the lot, a bonfire lit, and guys in the ring. I climbed off trying to fluff my hair up seeing Juice's Dyna still parked in the row. "Thought you were goin home?" Dad smirked walking with me to the crowd that was cheering on Half Sack and a hang around.

"Maybe in a bit." I gave him a grin looking around for Juice. I didn't see him anywhere yet. I walked off grabbing a beer from Bobby with a warning about drinking underage, still looking.

A group of crow eaters and sweet butts were gathered laughing shrilly, talking in high pitched nasal tones. Trixie, the bleach blonde, sneered at me when I walked by. "Hey little girl. Lookin for that Puerto Rican cutie?"

I turned to her rolling my eyes. "What's it to you?"

She smirked taking a long gulp from her bottle. "He's inside. Wonder who he's with this time."

Something in the way she said 'this time' got under my skin. "I don't know what you're talking about but if I were you I'd shut my dick sucking lips." I hissed at her with more venom than I ever thought possible. After the day I had, putting up with crow eater's shit talk was the last thing I felt like doing tonight.

Trixie just laughed some more along with the women beside her. I noticed Mia in the crowd giving me a look of pity. "Oh sweetheart, I feel for you. Really I do."

Without thinking I slung my still full beer bottle at her, dousing her in beer. The other girls scrambled away quickly yelling 'fight!' "And I really feel for you. What's it feel like to be a washed up piece of trash that gets passed around to the next dick?"

"I don't know. What's it feel like to be the girl whose man cheated on her with this washed up piece of trash? Probably something like that." Trixie leaned so close we were nose to nose before someone shoved their way between us.

"Hey. Break it up. You wanna fight, fight with someone else. Aleah get inside with Juice." Tig spoke staying planted where he was. "Go on."

I gave the blonde a hard look before going reluctantly to the clubhouse where Juice was seated behind a laptop on the sofa. "Hi." I almost growled at him sitting down beside him with my arms crossed.

"Hi." He returned with one of his puppy dog eyed smiles. "What's wrong? You look like someone just ran over your puppy or something. Which I know hasn't happened because I have your puppy at my house locked in my bathroom. And I'd never let him run off into-"

I held a hand up to stop his babbling. "You fuck a crow eater? Trixie?"

Juice made a confused, disgusted face. "Umm no. Who told you that?" He asked looking shocked.

"She did. Right before I came in here. Tig broke us up." I replied still giving him a look. "So you didn't do it?"

He shook his head quickly, shutting his laptop down for the night. "No. Hell no. You're the only one I'm… sleeping with. Or anything."

I didn't believe him. Just from the way his left knee started to bounce up and down. "If you say so." I flatly told him taking the glass he was lifting to his lips and downing it.

"How's the baby? I've been busy with shit around here." Juice asked frowning as I took his joint next. "You ok?"

"I'm perfect." I replied knowing I was nowhere near perfect. I was insanely jealous, that there was even the smallest possibility of Juice fucking the crow eater that had taunted me. I was crying inside for my sweet, tiny, little nephew in his incubator thanks to his junky mom. I was no better than her, sitting here about to go get my fix before my mood got even worse.

Juice slid his hand on my thigh squeezing it through my jeans. "You want to get out of here? Go home and rest so we can go to the hospital in the morning?"

"No. I'm fine. I need to go to the bathroom though. I'll be right. Can you get me drink?" I asked him standing up deciding to go ahead and take off before he could realize what I was going to go do. He'd given my 'allowed' usage for today and tomorrow in case we didn't see each other.

"Yeah. I'll be at the bar babe." His lips brushed across mine before I took off down the hallway to Jax's room. I didn't like using the regular clubhouse bathroom if I could help it and I knew Jax wasn't in his room right now. He was outside talking with Dad.

I pushed open the door and shut it behind me quickly going into the small bathroom. It was half ass clean in here from the last time I cleaned it up for him. I looked in the mirror taking a deep breath as I studied myself. I looked worn-out. My eyes were blood shot from crying all day over Abel, and my make up was pretty much gone from my eyes. I dabbed some powder on then lip gloss before I took out the compact that had my stash hidden inside. Juice had warned me before about carrying it around with me, but it was easier when I didn't know if I'd be at home or his place.

I took my debit card out, getting my line as perfect as I could before I snorted it hard. I could feel it burn and hurt up my nasal passage and groaned a little touching it before I decided to finish off the tiny bit that I had left in the baggy. I tipped it out as carefully as I could snorting it next. "Time to make my day better." I muttered looking back in the mirror at myself trying to do something with my flattened hair from all the hugs I'd gotten today.

My phone rang, Jessica calling for the millionth time of the day and I hit the silent button shaking my head at it while I used my fingers to brush my hair up into a pony tail. I closed my eyes when I finished taking a deep breath as the coke started to rush through my body, taking only a few minutes. I couldn't get enough of the numbness this gave me. I was numb to anything that happened to me now. Even that stupid bitch outside. I took a deep, slow breath and let it out taking in another one right after trying to calm my heart rate down. I'd never had a rush as strong as this one. I pushed my purse and things into the sink before I headed out of the bathroom trying to get back to Juice. He'd know what to give me.

I took another slow step trying to keep deep breathing while I moved. My heart was slamming like a jack hammer now. I made it as far as the doorway of the room before I yelled out. "Juice!" Juice! I need you!"

The music was so loud I knew he couldn't hear me all the way down the hall at the bar as I struggled to breath and have the air in my lungs to yell some more. _Oh no, I was going to die alone_ I panicked holding onto the wall as good as I could without anything to brace onto.

"Juice… please.." I whispered sinking down holding my chest tightly gasping in short breaths now. Just keep breathing, breath slow little gasps, I tried to remember what he'd told me the last time I did a little too much.

I felt hands on me, touching my forehead just before I shut my eyes. "Juice… I need." I mumbled before I was vaguely aware of someone shouting.

"Ambulance now! Get Juice and Clay! Jax!"


	16. Chapter 16

**I just wanted to say … wow! I'm so surprised at the response Brandi got as an OC! I wanted to explain where she came from in season 4 they mention Juice has an ex that is friends with Bobby's ex wife Precious when they're looking for him, and mention he always goes to her place when he's 'wounded'. **

**Thank you for all the reviews and follows, I thnk I got back to everyone but if I didn't, please know I appreciate you taking the time to review for me!**

**This chapter is another meh for me on the Aleah stuff, I got the info about her from Jessica1018 who works around the type of stuff Aleah would be going through so I tried to stayed accurate to everything. **

Chapter 15 Send me an Angel

I opened my eyes up slowly, the steady beep of the machine next to my bed was bringing me out of the heaviest sleep I'd ever experienced in my life. I blinked a few times trying to piece together where I was. I looked to right at the monitor beside the hospital bed I was in, wires hooked up everywhere. Then I looked to the left and croaked out "Daddy?" Like I would've when I was a little girl.

Dad, Gemma, and Juice were sprawled out from chairs next to the a tiny little sofa in my room. Dad jumped up in a flash at my bed along with the other two close behind. "I'm right here angel. How you feelin'?"

I tried to sit up, Mom's hand pushed me back into the bed gently. "What happened to me?" My mouth felt like cotton balls. Or even dirt. I saw the looks exchanged between the three of them. Juice was wearing an all black get up, complete with a goofy newsboy hat. "Juice?"

"I'm right here Lee." He touched my calf, the closest thing he could reach, thanks to Dad's hovering. "You're gonna be ok."

"I don't remember. I was yelling for you to come help me." I swallowed hard trying to get rid of whatever had my mouth like this.

Mom pushed my hair away from my face with her cool hand. "You overdosed on blow. Chibs heard you yelling for Juice and went to check on you, you were in the hallway on the verge of a damn heart attack."

I looked at Juice, wanting his confirmation, when he gave me a small nod I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes. The shame and embarrassment of being found out by everyone. Literally everyone. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. I covered my face with my IV stuck hands as the tears started to flow.

"You might as well get it out of your system now. Whatever you're crying about." Dad told me walking back to look out of the window. "Because I swear if I ever find out you did this shit again, there'll be a whole lot more to cry over."

A shallow sob wracked my body as I nodded trying not to full on bawl in front of the three people that were closest to me. Gemma gave me a dark look going to stand by Dad at the window too. Juice moved closer to the head of the bed rubbing my shoulder while I cried. "Hey… calm down. Its not the end of the world. You're not the first person to OD."

That didn't help. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore. I just had extremely swollen eyes when the nurse came into the room to check my vitals. "I'm sorry." I whispered just loud enough for everyone to be able to hear me.

"Don't you think we got enough shit to deal with right now? Without you adding on this?" Dad snapped looking like either wanted to kill me or hug me.

Juice was silent, moving away from my bed back to his chair resting his elbows on his knees. Mom grabbed her purse from the portable table shaking her head. "I have to go check on Abel." She started to leave the room then paused in the doorway. "I'll be back. And I want to know what the hell you were thinking." Then she left the door closing loudly behind her.

Dad crushed the paper coffee cup he was holding and tossed it in the small trash can in the corner. "We need to get to the clubhouse. Be there in 30." He told Juice before giving me another look. "I'll talk to you later."

I could hear the disgust in his voice when he spoke to me. It just pushed me further into the overwhelming sadness that was creeping over my body. Juice stayed hunched over for a few minutes before he let out a deep sigh and moved to sit on the foot of my bed. "We need to talk."

I nodded slowly, not sure if I liked the way he sounded right now. "Okay." I whispered a pit in the bottom of my stomach.

"I can't do this anymore." Juice blurted out honestly holding his hands out. "I can't. I can't worry about you like this. I can't be the one everyone puts the blame on if something happens to you or look after you. I need a girlfriend, not a child."

The tears started to fall again, hot against my cheeks. "Juice. No." I croaked out trying to sit up far enough to touch him but the wires stopped me.

He stood up from the foot of the bed stuffing his hands in the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing. "I can't do it. I should have let you go months ago when I tried to. We're not good together."

I knew he had a point. We argued a lot, but I knew why. It was because of the drugs. "I'm going to get help."

"Yeah. Yeah you are. But I can't be the one to do it with you. You need to do this alone." Juice spoke still not looking at me, just staring down at the floor. "I'm tired Aleah. I can't take it anymore. I should have never started anything with you."

"Why?" I cried wiping at my face, slick with the tears by now. "Please don't. Please." My heart was breaking in two listening to this.

"I told you why. I can't do this anymore. Its not working for me. I can't be in a relationship all about you. You're selfish." He finally looked up, his puppy dog brown eyes looking into sadly. He did look tired. Exhausted even. "You need to take some time to grow up. See what else is out there."

I shook my head wildly, not wanting to hear any of this come out of his mouth. I knew this was it, this wasn't like the last time. I couldn't get him back now. "I don't want to see what else is out there. I want you." I cried letting the sobs just take over. "You can't leave me like this. You… this is your fault. You gave it to me.." I threw the words out as a way to sting him, hurt him back.

Juice grabbed his cut off of the back of the chair and shrugged it on speaking. "I am. I'm leaving you. You need to grow up, date around. Find another man. I can't be the only man that you've ever been with. It doesn't work like that. You're just infatuated with me. Trust me, you'll forget all about me. And maybe it was my fault. Maybe not."

And just as easy as that, he was gone. No trace he'd ever been there except for the hole in my chest. I laid there crying for two hours straight before Mom came back in giving me an appraising look before sitting down beside me. "You done?"

I sniffled some before answering her. "I don't know." I admitted, I really didn't know if I'd burst out in tears again or start laughing from cracking up at what my life had become.

"What were you thinking? Why in the hell did you even start this?" She sat back crossing her black leather boots over each other.

"I don't know."

"Well what exactly do you know?" Mom snapped showing me they weren't going to be the least bit easy on me. "I know that you almost gave Clay a god damn heart attack last night he was so worried about you. And I have enough to deal with right now with Abel and then find out you're on coke. Jesus Aleah, I thought you knew better."

I'd never felt as ashamed of something in my entire life as I did now. "I'm sorry. It started out…helping me get everything done. And then it got worse. Juice tried to help me." Tears started flowing again when his name formed on my tongue. Juice was gone, I'd finally driven him away. "I swear it'll never happen again."

Mom smirked flipping her highlighted hair over her shoulder. "I know it won't happen again. Ever. Now I need to go check on the baby. And the whore. You're getting released this afternoon on the condition you come back for outpatient treatment for the detox. Think we can trust you not to run off for a fix?"

I nodded knowing deep down, I'd never venture down this path again. The embarrassment was enough to know that. "Yes. I swear."

She stood up giving me a small smile before heading back out of the door. "Your little friends going to stay with you while I deal with all this shit. Juice didn't want to get involved."

I shut my eyes hearing the door click shut again taking everything that had happened in the past 24 hours in in small bunches. I'd be okay. Things would work out. Juice would be back, he always came back. Jessica though, was a constant. The only person that didn't make me want to crawl under the hospital bed and not get back up. She came over as soon as Mom got me home, my first dose of methadone in my system to help with the completely shitty way I was feeling, and stayed over for the next two nights not going in to work.

Mom was up to her ears with Abel, Wendy apparently tried to off herself with an overdose, and Dad was in over his head too. By the third morning I was out of the hospital I felt decent. Not necessarily good, but decent. Jess had helped me through the worst of everything, staying up late with me when I couldn't stop dry heaving, listening to me cry over Juice leaving me. Dad was distant, I was pretty sure it was more of him not sure of how to deal with the situation more than anger now.

"You think you're feelin up to dinner with everyone tonight?" Mom asked carrying in plastic grocery bags from the car.

Jess jumped up to help her, putting stuff away in the right places. I chewed on the inside of my cheek thinking on it. I would have to face all of them at some point. Even Juice. "Yeah. I think I'll be okay." I finally decided sipping on my glass of water.

"Good. Juice is coming too." She threw in kicking the fridge door shut with her heeled foot. "Luann's going to bring Tina to help with everything,, you girls don't have to do anything but show up and try not to kill the little Rican."

Dinner went by okay. I got the expected sympathy hugs and questions of "How are you darlin'?" from the guys. Juice hung back not speaking to me, sitting at the end of the table farthest away from me. I caught my eyes creeping over to him more than once with Jessica giving me stern looks of reprimand. I wanted to lay my head down in my arms and fall apart when he finally did speak to me, after everyone was done eating.

"You ok?"

I looked up at the tanned man who was avoiding looking me in the eyes and shrugged my shoulders limply. I didn't know if I was okay. Everything just hadn't hit me good and hard yet. "I want my dog." I spoke in a flat voice. Gizmo had been over at Juice's for a week now and I missed the little ball of fur.

Juice shrugged this time, his cut rising and falling gracefully. "I don't think so."

"What do you mean.. you don't think so? Its my dog, not yours." I snapped anger rising in my chest in a hard wave. "I'll come get him tonight when you get done here. Jess will drive me."

"I mean, I'm keeping him." His dark eyes darted over to me, unreadable, his jaw set in a hard line. "You don't need to worry about taking care of him. Just.. Focus on you. He's fine with me."

"He was a gift Juice! You're giving the damn dog back!" I realized suddenly how loud my voice had gotten and felt Mom's cool hands on my arm tugging me away from Juice.

Juice looked at me with pity clear on his face now. "Maybe later on. I'll take care of him Le….Aleah." He'd stopped himself from calling me 'Lee', another reminder of him ditching out on me when I needed him. "I'll drop your stuff off at the office tomorrow. Leave my key with Half Sack or something." And just that fast… he was gone.

I was still pissed two days later when I was allowed out alone for the first time since the hospital. I had to run by the college and the hospital to check in. I was trying not to toss away this semester completely, and had to have a meeting with my advisor on what to do. Thankfully my teachers were letting me complete everything at home over the weekend, and make up the clinical hours whenever I could squeeze them in. I drove by the PD, doing a quick double take before I stopped at the sign peering in my rearview mirror.

Juice was walking down the street in a diaper, boots, and nothing else except his muscle brown skin gleaming in the sunlight. He kept pulling the diaper up, no shame in bearing his body for the entire town to oogle. Ten days ago, I would have giggled, pulled over and felt those muscles that were popping out at me, now I felt anger. I waited for him to walk beside the car and rolled the window down. "Get in. I'll give you a ride."

Juice studied me before looking around noticing the mothers shielding their kids eyes from him before he climbed in. "Take me to the clubhouse."

"You could say please. it's the least you could do." I glowered at him wishing now I hadn't been nice and picked his ass up. "You know after breaking my heart on my lowest day. Then refusing to give my dog back I gotta admit though…. Its tempting to leave you walking mostly naked down the street."

Juice sighed loudly adjusting his diaper that looked like it was made of a sheet. "Gizmo. Is fine at my house."

"You gave him to me. I want him back, trust me I am more than capable of caring for a dog." I hit the brakes hard letting him fly forward. "You should really put a seatbelt on."

"Maybe… Maybe not. Its nice to see you're handling this good." He took a low blow trying to distract me from the dog I knew. "I thought you'd still be sick, coming down."

I glared at him, my fingers turning white from my grip on the steering wheel. "I wasn't THAT far gone on it. I'm more upset about some guy ripping my heart out."

"Aleah, don't." He stopped me shaking his head rapidly. "I'm not talking about this. I left you. I'm sorry."

I pulled into the compound dropping him off at the clubhouse doors before walking over to the office. Sure, enough, Juice had a box of my stuff sitting behind the desk Literally every single item I'd ever left at his house was inside of it. Lip gloss, my shampoo, phone charger, everything but my puppy. I snatched the box and carried it to the car shoving it in the backseat. Carter gave me a wave and his usual bright grin. I smiled back with a return wave, trying to hurry up and get back out of here.

I grabbed the keys from the ignition fighting to get off the small silver house key, cracking my thumb nail in the process. "Shit." I mumbled frowning when the old black Cutlass pulled in at the garage just as the guys were getting out of church. Tara Knowles stood in the parking lot talking nervously to Jax motioning at the car. We'd ran into each other a few times at the hospital exchanged a few words even, but I stayed clear of the subject of Jax. I was a kid when it all went down but I wasn't stupid, I knew what brought the woman back to Charming and it wasn't her dad's death.

I watched the little exchange go on before Tara got in the passenger side of Mom's car and smirked to myself. And I thought _I _was the one with the problems. I walked over to open bay and tossed Juice's house key at Half Sack. "Give that to Juice will you? I'm out of here."

He nodded giving me a goofy grin as I left walking right past Juice and Tig ignoring him completely. He'd put clothes on from somewhere, and his cut. Dad gave me a small nod when I walked by calling out after me. "I'll see you later doll." The closest thing to something loving he'd said to me since the incident.

Maybe what I needed was to spend the day at the hospital with Abel.

Juice's POV

I glanced over at Tig confirming my suspicion that he'd fallen asleep after the non stop bitching about getting bit on his ass. I drove down the deserted highway zoning in and out of my thoughts and the radio I had turned on to hear some rock while I drove. I'd been trying to drown Tig out on his little rant about the pussy in Indian Hills. He kept telling me I'd be a 'new man' if I found something new and fresh to hit. I hated to tell him but anything hanging out at a whorehouse wasn't new and it sure as hell wasn't fresh. I didn't want a used up, stretched out, older than dirt piece of ass. I wanted MY girl

Tig snorted loudly mumbling before his head flopped around and he dozed back off. I'd volunteered to drive the whole way, I hadn't been sleeping much even with taking my meds on time. ADD kicked in worse when I was nervous or stressed anyways. The moonlight glinted off of the ring on my right ring finger, the one Aleah had given me a little over a month ago. A month had destroyed us. Hell, the past ten days was enough to make me question if any of this was a good idea. I missed her like hell. Needed her worse.

I almost backed out of breaking up with her when I saw how her already sad face crumpled up when I broke it to her. I loved that girl, too much though, to stay and let her break herself down over me. I was the one that couldn't say no when she needed a fix, I was the one that let it get so bad she overdosed trying to cheer herself up after Abel. And I was the jackass that didn't go check on her and let her get discovered by Chibs instead.

I was also the jackass that dumped her when she probably needed someone. But Carter told me Jessica was staying over at Clay's place to help Gemma out with her until she was done with the puking and shaking. Gemma was a lady with a full plate now days, she'd just got in my face a little pissed off I knew and didn't tell her. Clay didn't say much to me, the whole your girl, your business thing, but I knew he was pissed too. And that's how I ended up driving the box truck to Nevada instead of going ahead with the rest of the guys to the patch over party. It was going to be sick as hell, I could use a good bender night.

My phone lit up from its spot in the cup holder making me wonder who in hell would be calling this time of the night. I grabbed it not recognizing the number. "Sup?"

"Hi. Is this… Juice?" a sweet voice cooed into my ear.

I sucked on my bottom lip trying to place the semi familiar voice. "Depends on who this is."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even think about that. I asked Bobby for your number when he came by the other day to tell Precious you wouldn't be able to come back by and finish up, she was pissed by the way. Its Brandi." She rambled on before finally telling me who she was.

"Its Juice then." I replied an uneasiness pitting into my stomach. She was hot as hell, seemed sweet, but I didn't want to get into this. Not now.

"I just thought I'd call, so you had my number. In case you ever wanted to teach me those few things….." She let her sentence drop suggestively.

"Maybe. I'm out of town right now. Work stuff." I didn't go into the 'few things' . I didn't know if I wanted to go down that road. I didn't know shit lately. Not even how to drug a damn dog properly.

Brandi cleared her throat, clearly starting to get uncomfortable with my tight lipped replies. "Okay well, ummmm. I guess give me a call when you get back in town. If you want."

"Sure thing babe." Babe slipped out before I could stop it. I was too damn used to saying that to the only person I ever talked to on the phone that was a female. I shut the phone before she could say anything else, feeling rude as fuck for it. Why in the hell had Bobby given out my number anyways? I could find my own damn dates. I bristled angrily tossing the phone down with a clatter that didn't even budge Tig.

Brandi was so NOT a good girl. Nothing like Aleah. Clearly the opposite even in their personalities. Aleah wouldn't have been so… forth about wanting to fuck me. Not normal Aleah anyways. I lit a cigarette and rolled the window down thinking on this for a while. I'd told her to get out and see what other guys were out there. But I didn't really want her to. I wanted to be the guy that was out there, the only guy actually. I didn't really think about dating around when I did that, or consider it. If I got lonely though… Brandi could help fill that void. She seemed more than willing. I absolutely would not have another cozy little relationship though, not with anyone else. It would feel too wrong. Foreign even.

I'd definitely be lonely when I got back home. I dropped Gizmo off with Gemma at the office wordlessly before I left with Tig tonight. I hated to do it but I didn't have anyone to take care of him while I was gone for the next few days. The little guy had been my bed partner and companion. It was selfish to keep the dog I'd given as a gift, but dammit I wanted something to hold onto. I rolled the window back up humming along with the song on the station I tuned to. Blue October. Bitch rock. It'd have to do. Just like the redhead in place of my brunette beauty would have to do.

Aleah's POV

"So you would be in this room." Jessica guided me to the completely empty guest room in her apartment. "It'll be just the two of us."

I nodded surveying the space. It wasn't very big. But it was a step into becoming more independent. It meant getting a real job and maybe dropping a class or two if I couldn't find something at the hospital to double as clinical hours but….. I was going to give it a try. "I'll see if Jax or maybe Half Sack can help me move in Saturday. If that's okay."

Jessica rolled her eyes shutting the light off and closing the door going back into the living room her freshly painted blue toes looking bright on the light carpet. It was a full on girls night. "Of course its okay. You know that. I'm sure Carter and his friend Logan can get your stuff anyways."

I plopped down on the sofa obediently sliding my feet into her lap for my turn of a pedicure. "Works for me either way. I'll mention it to Dad when I go home." I wasn't sure how he'd take it. He was starting to treat me normal again, no more angry looks or being uncertain. Mom was a go on the apartment idea, saying I could take whatever I needed from the house or the storage to get started with.

"So… I was thinking. I know its only been a couple of weeks since you broke up with that idiot, but Logan is single. And he's a nice guy." Jess started with a sly smile on her face. "So maybe…. After we move you in Saturday, you guys could do something. Or a double date."

I shook my head quickly. I didn't want to date. I didn't want a new guy. I wanted my old guy. I wanted Juice. Who didn't want me. "I don't think so Jess. I'm not.. Ready for that."

"Lee, you can't just sit around and hope he'll change his mind."

"You don't understand." I groaned rubbing my eyes not caring if I smudged my make up. Not like there was anyone here to see it except for Jess. "I'm dealing with too much for a new guy right now. I'm fighting off cocaine cravings every time I turn around, I haven't even went back to class yet. Or work."

Jess blew on the coat of purple polish she'd just applied to my toes. "Well maybe he could be a distraction. You deserve better than Juice anyways. Someone that puts you first. Not some club."

She didn't get it. No one got it. Mom kind of got it, but I couldn't break down and tell her every little detail of our relationship like I could a friend. I honestly missed Juice. His goofy, unfiltered comments, his arms around me when I woke up, the feel of that coppery skin on my palm… I shook my head like it was an Etch-a-Sketch erasing those thoughts. "The club always comes first to everyone. That's just how it is. What are you going to do when Carter starts his Prospect phase?"

I could tell from the look on her face she didn't like the thought of that. It was coming, I'd heard him talking to Bobby a few times, and from what Juice told me right before we broke up, Carter was planning on asking either Bobby or Chibs to sponsor him.

"He's not. I asked him not to. I don't want to be second best. Not my style."

I smiled hearing her say that. Jessica Linson was a first and only type of girl even when it came to her men. She'd never make it as an old lady. I didn't even make it far enough for consideration. Now I had to deal with seeing Juice with the whores that hung around the clubhouse, I knew it would happen. "Its not that bad."

"Why do you even miss him Aleah? He broke up with you while you were in the hospital for an overdose that he bought for you. After you found out he was cheating on you." She snapped taking out her anger about Carter on me.

I jerked my feet from hands and stuffed them into my flip flops not caring if the polish got messed up. "I'll see you later."

"No wait. I'm sorry. I was just being a bitch." Jessica touched my wrist frowning. "I really am sorry. I know, you love him. He was your first real love, its hard to get over it."

Tears were puddled in the corners of my eyes while I nodded my head breaking down for the millionth time this month in front of my best friend. I'd really fucked everything up.


	17. Chapter 17

**I have no excuse for why this has taken me so long to post, I have most of this story already written. I was just being plain ole lazy! It makes my day for the reviews and follows to come through my email so keep em coming :D **

**Thanks and appreciation to Jessica1018**

Chapter 17 The Artist in the Ambulance

Livid. That's the only way I could describe how I felt a few days ago when Juice pulled into the lot with the skinny dark haired little tramp beside him in Unser's box truck. I wasn't stupid enough to think he wasn't going to be with anyone else but…seriously…. I thought Cherry was scraping the bottom of the barrel even for a rebound fuck. I didn't speak a word to him when Carter and I climbed into the truck to take it with us to finish moving the bigger items into the apartment.

It killed me to see him with another girl until I got home and got the phone call from Jax that they were both in jail. Mom for hitting the slut with the skateboard for sleeping with Dad, and Dad for questioning on a weapons charge. Dad got out, Mom chose to stay overnight and the slut shacked up with Half Sack and got a job at my favorite nail salon. I couldn't even avoid the tramp.

"Aleah? I hate to bother you… but do you think I could catch a ride home with you when you get off?" Tara Knowles voice broke into my thoughts of the past few days.

I glanced up from the paperwork I was supposed to be filing. "Uhh.. Sure. No problem." I wondered why she needed a ride when she had just got her car fixed. "I'm off in 20."

Tara gave me a timid smile nodding before she took a seat in one of the few chairs that were the waiting area in the records department. "How are you by the way? I meant to ask Jax….."

"I'm fine. All better now that I'm back into the swing of things." I assured her shutting the filing cabinet I was in with a louder bang than I intended to. "I'm just glad they decided to work with me on school." I knew she knew what happened, a few of the nurses did too.

"Oh yeah, they're pretty good about that as long as you show good ambition. I gotta ask though… why are you in the records dept instead of on the floor?"

"It was all that was hiring." I explained trying to get the desk picked up before I got off. "I needed something that paid. I finally got out of the house."

Tara smirked no doubt remembering what it was like when Jax lived at home and she'd come over. "Were you looking for anything else? I'm on the next floor."

"Yeah, I remember. I was hoping to work in the nursery." I admitted thinking of sweet tiny Abel up above us in his incubation chamber. I went to visit the little guy on all of my breaks and sometimes after work or class too. He was adorable and hopefully coming home in a couple of days.

"I might could see if there's an opening." Tara offered a little too sweetly.

I was suspicious of her. I still had my own opinions on her return to Charming, regardless of what she said they were. And Mom didn't trust her, which was enough reason for me to be guarded with her. "That'd be great. I'm all done here if you're ready."

I led her out to the Fusion apologizing for the mess when I moved a pile of papers, books, and Mellow Yellow bottles out of the way. "Sorry, I don't get a lot of passengers."

"No its fine. I really appreciate this." She looked around before sliding the car. "I'm staying at my Dad's old place if you remember where its at."

I nodded heading over there, remembering the little house. "So Abel's doing really good. He should be home soon."

"Good. I can't wait to be able to hold him." I grinned thinking of all the cute baby things we'd set up in his nursery over the weekend. Jess's mom had came over and helped shampoo the carpets and clean up after the painters left. "I know Mom's been ready since he was born."

"She seems excited. Jax too. Have you heard from Wendy?" she asked in a careful tone that told me what she was really wanting to know.

"I haven't. Jax probably has. They're still married. I'm hoping now that she's clean they work things out." Low blow I knew but just letting her know where I stood on everything. I had a whole new sight of Wendy now that we'd went through the same thing. The only difference was it was easier for me to get rid of the cravings.

I pulled into her driveway flipping the overhead light on for her to grab her things. "I guess call me if you need a ride in the morning. I don't go in until 10 though."

"Okay. I might. Thanks again." She waved getting out and hurrying inside of her house like something was chasing her. I frowned at her when I backed out going to the apartment where Jess was at no doubt cooking something. She'd been on a Martha Stewart kick since I moved in, cooking, cleaning, and driving poor Carter crazy.

"I'm home… cover up.!" I called out a few minutes later when I pushed open the door. I'd spotted Carter's Tahoe in the parking lot on my way in.

Carter was seated at the small kitchen table digging his fork into what looked like homemade stroganoff. "Already covered." He scraped the fork along the plate. "Jess said she made your favorite."

"She's right." I smiled tossing my things down and going for a plate. "Where is she?"

"In the bathroom with Logan. He's fixing that leak you guys had. Plumbing isn't my expertise." He replied giving me a pointed look.

I gave him back a face that clearly said I wasn't happy about this. Jessica had been after me to meet Logan since I broke up with Juice, and it looked like she finally got her wish. "I can't believe her." I hissed sitting down in the chair beside Carter. "I told her no."

"I did too." He whispered back his green eyes darting around before he whispered again. "But he really is a nice guy."

I wanted to take the fork out of his bear paw sized hand and stab him with it. I didn't care if he was a nice guy. I didn't want a nice guy. The guy I wanted was probably drunk or high right now burying a dead body in the woods. And I liked that. "I don't want a nice guy."

"Well too bad. You have one down the hall." Carter whispered trying not to grin at the glare I gave him. "Just meet him, you might decide you like him. Juice is dating so should you." He realized he'd said too much when I popped him in his bicep.

"What do you mean he's dating? Who the hell is he dating? He didn't even date me!" I hissed at Carter mad that he'd been with holding info. "You better-"

"Well hey! I thought I heard you come in.!" Jessica's too cheerful voice rang through my ears jerking me and Carter from our huddle at the table. "What're you two whispering about in here?"

I spotted the guy behind her. He was giving me a shy smile. He wasn't ugly like I'd hoped for. He was pretty attractive. Blonde, blue eyes, taller than I was, decent body but I wouldn't expect the muscles Juice had underneath his Raiders T-shirt. "Nothing. Just…. Talking." I said lamely moving to get myself a plate.

"Uh huh… Well Hey, Aleah this is Logan. Logan this is Aleah, the friend I've been wanting you to meet." Jessica introduced us looking a proud Momma with her grin when we shook hands. "Logan went to high school with us. Remember?"

I didn't remember. Which was sad because our class had been tiny in this small town. Then again, I didn't remember Carter from anywhere either. "I'm sorry, I don't. But its nice to meet you."

"You too… Aleah." He gave me a blue eyed grin that seemed genuine. It didn't make my stomach flip like Juice's bright goofy one did, but for a brief second I felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe I could get past the jerk that broke my heart.

Logan was a good distraction. He came by a few more times after that, sometimes we went out for dinner or to Lodi to catch a movie. He was almost _too _nice of a guy. He reminded me of Carter in a weird way. Nothing came close to being Juice. I mentioned him a few times to Mom, once or twice to Jax in passing, and tried to keep him hidden away. The club didn't need to know where he worked at or I'd end up calling in favors to the courthouse every other day.

I did a damn good job at hiding him too until he swung by the shop while I was at work, or pretending to work more like it. Half Sack was in the ring practicing against Lowell, getting ready for his big match tonight. Cherry the slut was sitting on a picnic table cheering him on. I tried to like her, I really did just for Half Sack but I just couldn't do it. I cheered for Lowell when he finally got a swing in seeing Logan pull into the parking lot in his bright yellow Lancer. Definitely not a Dyna.

"Hey you." Logan grinned showing all those perfectly straight teeth when he did. "Thought I'd swing by and see you before tonight. Bring you some lunch."

I accepted the plastic take out tray from him with a grin back aware of eyes on us now. The new guy hadn't been checked out yet. "Thanks. I asked Jess if they were going too, she said nah."

"Yeah I don't think boxing matches are her thing." Logan chuckled following me into the office. "Nice place." He commented seeing the half naked girls that decorated the walls.

"Trust me, those weren't my idea." I pushed a chair towards him before sitting down at the desk. "You should've called me, I would've took off for lunch with you."

He shrugged still looking around at all of the odds and ends we had stacked up. "Not a big deal. I was just sitting around the house, wanted to see you."

I ripped open a ketchup pack and squirted it across my fries hearing the rumble of bikes pulling in. "Oh great. That's probably my Dad." I warned him looking out of the open door. "And.. My brother."

"Should I be scared?" Logan asked looking half serious as he sat straight up now straightening out the blue and green plaid shirt he had on over his jeans. Very Cali cool.

"No just…. don't let them intimidate you." I whispered as they came closer. Juice was with them, and Chibs.

Dad had his shades on so I couldn't tell what type of expression he had on his face when he looked Logan over. "You the new guy?"

Jax gave Logan a shitty look pushing his way inside the office. "They're supposed to take Abel out tomorrow Lee. I told Mom I'd pass the message on to you so you can be there."

I nodded appreciatively at him glad to be in on it. "That's great. I'll definitely be there. Let me know if you need me to do anything." I noticed his leg then, the limp he had. "Jesus.. What the hell happened to you?"

He shrugged still giving Logan a death glare. "Ran into Tara's ex."

"You going to the fight tonight?" I asked frowning when he grabbed two of my fries with his filthy looking fingers.

"Nah. Got stuff to do." He threw Logan a last look before he walked out of the office. "The guys will be there… watching."

I looked over at Logan smirking him. "See? They're not that bad. Just… checkin you out."

"I guess I passed. I'm not dead." He joked not knowing that could actually happen if things went south for us. "I'm gonna jet, go get some stuff done but I'll pick you up at 8 okay?"

"Sounds perfect." I stood up giving him a quick kiss before he left. His kisses were sweet, nothing pushy or rough behind them.

When we pulled away I noticed Juice standing by his bike on the phone staring into the office at us and made a quick decision. "One more." I whispered drawing Logan in for another peck before he left.

I watched Juice stare as Logan when to his car and left, still talking to whoever was on the phone but with a blank expression. _See how he likes _that I thought to myself going to finish off my burger and fries. I was halfway done when I heard him clear his throat. "What do you want Juice?" I sighed turning to look at him.

"Nothing. Just wanted to see how you were." He mumbled stuffing his hands in his pockets of his cut. "Saw your… friend leave."

"His names Logan. And he's my boyfriend." I snapped irritated with him already. It was like he expected me to be mopey and depressed without him. And as much as I was , I wasn't going to let on to him. "I'm fine."

"That's.. good. Guess I'll see you tonight." Juice gave me a small smile before he left back out of the office like it was on fire.

Mission accomplished with the kiss.

Juice's pov

It was all I could do not to go over and rip that punks hands off of Aleah's ass when I saw his hands dip down and grab a feel. Jealousy like I'd never felt before drenched me. That was my girl he was touching on, kissing, and making plans with. I waited until he left to go in there, fully intent on telling her I changed my mind, I didn't want her to see anyone else. But when I stepped in and felt the hostility, I changed my mind again. She didn't want me.

"Hard to see huh?" Carter said beside me on the table we were sitting on sharing a joint.

I passed it back to him and flipped my aviators down, trying to hide my emotions that were written all over my face. "What's hard to see?" I played stupid. Easy to do when that's what everyone already thinks.

"Aleah. With someone else. Logan's a good guy though. He won't mistreat her." Carter puffed away on the joint.

"Whoa…. You set her up?" I snapped angrily not believing what I was hearing. My only friend outside the club double crossed me. "What the hell man?"

Carter shook his head leaning back on his elbows. "Nah man. Jess fixed her up with him. He's a friend of mine, but I had nothing to do with it I swear. Jess wanted to get her out and dating. I think Lee was just as happy to stay home and eat ice cream every night."

I snuffed what was left of the joint out thinking on this new info. "So she didn't…. go after him?" That was more like it. I knew Aleah was a loyal chick.

"Nope. They've been out a few times though. Getting serious."

I festered on that for a while, sitting there in silence as it stated to get dark around us. The guys were closing up the shop for the night. "You think…. You think I did more damage than good? And I swear if you ever tell anyone I talked about…. Feelings and relationships and shit I'll kill you."

Carter laughed sitting back up beside me, a grin stayed on his face. "Secrets safe with me. I think that she needed to grow up. She's doin ok. I told you I'd keep an eye out on her for you, she's happy mostly"

Happy mostly. I could live with that even if I wasn't involved. I glanced down at my watch realizing just how late it was getting. "Oh shit. I'm late. I gotta go pick Brandi up." I hopped up tripping over the legs of the table. "Dammit." I stood up brushing the dirt off of the scrape on my palm.

"Brandi? That redhead?"

"Yeah. We're going to the fight. Gotta place my bet." I gave him a wave going over to my bike. "I'll see you later man."

I hopped on taking off towards Stockton to get the redheaded woman that had been attached to my lip for the past week. She was okay, didn't annoy me too bad, and didn't mind that I didn't date. I came over for sex, left, and that was about it. This was the first time I was taking her out anywhere besides the diner in town. She was waiting by the curb as soon as I pulled into her sub and held a helmet out to her. I'd almost taken the bitch seat back off of my bike after I broke up with Aleah, glad I didn't now.

The fight was already on when we got there. I spotted Cherry sitting beside Aleah and the douche bag. The guys were in Half Sack's corner coaching him. "C'mon." I nudged her not taking her hand that she kept trying to grab mine with. "Over there."

Brandi had on skin tight jeans that showed off every inch of the legs I loved to look at bare skinned. Her top was some type of a wrap around scrap of neon purple that clashed with her hair but damn, I was proud to show her off to the guys. I stood on the opposite side of the ring of Aleah, in a position I could see her and she could still see me. Lover boy had his hands on her thigh whispering in her ear.

"We should've stayed at my place if that's what's on your mind." She whispered into my ear, her hands roaming over my chest.

"Maybe we should have." I looked around again noticing Aleah wasn't in her seat anymore. "We'll stay here for a little while, then we can go to the clubhouse."

Brandi giggled kissing my jaw line "Your friends are coming over." She nodded towards Bobby and Tig walking together with smirks on their faces at the sight of her.

"Hey guys." I greeted them wishing this woman would quit groping me, realizing how stupid that sounded. Brandi's hand froze on my abs while she shook Bobby's hand. "This is Brandi."

"Didn't you two get cozy awful fast?" Bobby jibed me with a grin.

I shrugged trying to play it cool in front of them just as Aleah brushed by carrying two Cokes. I could see the wheels turning in Tig's head when he grabbed her arm to stop her. "What you just going to walk by like you don't know us darlin?"

"More like I don't want people to know I know you." She joked letting Tig give her a half hug. Then Bobby. "Sack's doin pretty good up there."

"Yeah. Who knew the little puke would be such a fighter?" Tig looked over at the ring where Half Sack was hearing up for his next round. "Oh, this is Juice's friend. Brandi." He smirked at me when I gave him a go to hell look.

Brandi looked at me then at Aleah before holding out a hand. "Hi."

"I'm sorry… did you say Bambi?" Aleah smiled sweetly at the redhead beside me with more kindness then I thought possible.

"No. Brandi actually." Brandi pulled her hand back when Aleah didn't take it. "And you are?"

I could feel the ice forming in the air between the two of them. Logan was in his seat frowning over at us but didn't look like he dared to come over to see what was happening. Bobby and Tig both had shit eating grins watching the little exchange happening.

"Aleah. Aleah Morrow."

Brandi smirked realizing who she was now, I'd told her bits and pieces about just breaking up with my girlfriend when I went to see her for the first time. "Ohh… you're the little girl with the infatuation."

"And you're the slut with the boob job." Aleah threw back haughtily. "Guys, I'll see you around" she nodded to Tig and Bobby ignoring me.

"That little girl was your ex?" Brandi asked me raising an arched eyebrow at me in amazement. "I was expecting something else."

I rubbed my Mohawk wanting like hell to tell her to go the fuck on but decided not to. "Yeah that's her. I told you she was young."

Brandi wrapped her skinny arms around my waist pressing herself up against my body. "Well I'm not hon. Let's go have some real fun."

I dragged on my beer, finishing it off. "Lets go do that."

Aleah's POV

I was fuming. Juice's new girlfriend looked like she came out of a friggin Barbie doll box. She was so fake I felt like I could sell her parts after I choked her for groping on him like that. I raged on inside even after Logan dropped me off at the apartment, refusing his offer to come inside. I prowled around the carpet in front of my bed angry for an hour until Jessica came in. I was praying she was alone but of course, she had Carter in tow.

"What's wrong with you?" Jessica asked leaning in my opened doorway her blonde hair disheveled.

"Nothing." I snapped still doing my walk back and forth. "Juice has a girlfriend."

Jessica exchanged a look with Carter who'd appeared over Jessica's shoulder. "So you heard huh?"

"You knew? Why doesn't anyone tell me this stuff?" I fumed sinking down on the bed. "Where'd he get her? The plastics factory in Stockton?"

Carter snorted like he was trying not to burst out laughing. "Something like that. But hey, you have Logan now so it doesn't matter." Jessica reasoned with me. "I'll see you later babe, I think I need to do some girl stuff."

He nodded giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I gotta be at work early anyways. Night Lee….." He kissed Jessica on the lips next giving her a tight hug before letting go. "Night doll."

Jessica waited for him to leave before climbing on the bed beside me, just like she'd done the last time I broke down over Juice. "So…. You still love him?"

"No… yes.. Sometimes." I sighed not even sure what I wanted. I liked Logan, he was fun, but I wanted Juice. "I don't know Jess. He stood there and let that… doll call me a little girl like I was 12 or something."

"Guess she must be ancient then. Probably jealous of you."

I hadn't thought about that. I had no idea what about me could make that redhead jealous of me. "I doubt it. I look like a frump next to her."

"I don't think so. And maybe she noticed where Juice's eyes were the whole time he was there." Jessica stuffed a pillow behind her head. "Anyways… we have bigger problems than that mohawked idiot right now."

This time, I was the one giving the questioning looks. "What's wrong?"

Jessica swallowed hard not saying anything , it was so quiet all we could hear was the clock ticking in the living room. "I think I'm pregnant."

I sat up quickly not believing her. "Are you serious? How…. I thought you were on the pill?" I couldn't imagine Jessica with a baby, being pregnant, being fat.

"I am.. Kind of. I keep forgetting to take it. And then Carter forgets to bring condoms." She covered her face with her hands. "Its so stupid. I told him to just pull out."

She was right. That was pretty stupid, I couldn't believe Carter went for that. "Did you take a test or anything yet?" I asked slowly forgetting my own problems. "Does Carter know?"

She shook her head finally bringing her hands back down. She looked like she wanted to cry. "No. And no. I can't tell him this. Not until I know for sure. I just needed to tell someone."

I hugged her tightly, rubbing her back in slow circles to calm her down. "I'll go out and get some tests in the morning. Everything is closed already."

Jess nodded letting little tears escape that she wiped off with the back of her hand. "I don't want a baby. I'm doing so good at the studio. I can't work if I'm knocked up."

I hadn't thought about that. No one wanted to do pregnant porn. Luann was going to be pissed if this was true. "Calm down, we don't even know if we should worry yet. Are you even late?"

Jessica laughed softly nodding. "Like.. Two months late." She admitted looking sheepish.

"Jess!" I scolded. Two months was a pretty good sign something was going on.

"I know. Let's just.. See how it goes in the morning." She sighed resting her head on my shoulder. "We're a lot of fun tonight. You're trying to get over Prince Charming and I'm trapping one."

I highly doubted she'd be trapping Carter. He seemed like he'd do anything she asked him to. I got up early the next morning before she did and walked down to the drug store grabbing three tests not caring if anyone I knew saw me, and went back home. Jess was still in the bed passed out when I dropped the tests in the bathroom sink for her. It was the least I could do. She'd taken care of me, been there when no one else was, and let me move in with her.

I made coffee and went to sit on the little balcony that we had just enough room for chair on to think a while. It was time to admit as much as I wanted Juice, I really didn't think he wanted me anymore. It was time to bury that in the past and move on. Logan was a good guy, too good to waste, I'd give him a fair chance. And if Jess was pregnant I'd help her in any way I could between school and work. I heard the bathroom door shut and slipped back inside to wait, when she didn't come back out right away I knew it was bad.

"Jess? You ok?" I knocked on the door lightly.

"I'm fine. Just… doing these tests." She said opening the door up a peek. "It says wait three minutes."

I pushed the door open sitting down on the floor in front of the shower with her while we waited in silence. She leaned up and grabbed the stick looking at it before holding it out to me. I peered at it then hugged her. "Its just one… lets try another." I suggested "One of the other ones. I brought different kinds."

6 pregnancy tests later, there was no denying it. Jessica was knocked up.

~~~~Two days later

It felt like I'd just fallen asleep when my phone started vibrating on the night stand beside my bed waking me up. "What the hell.." I mumbled grabbing it without looking to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Get to the clubhouse. We need your help." Dad growled into the phone. "Hurry up." Then he ended the call without another word.

I sighed crawling out of my comfy warm bed and throwing the first clothes I touched on. I scribbled Jess a note in case she came home from Carter's before I got back and took off noticing the time on the CD player. 5am. What in the hell did they need at this time of the morning? I wondered pulling into the lot. It was empty except for a few bikes, Juice's, Dad's Chib's. And an ambulance. I frowned not sure I even wanted to know the story behind that.

"I'm here. What's up?" I yawned walking into the clubhouse expecting to find Mom crying or something wrong with Abel.

Dad jumped up from his stool at the bar. "C'mon." He led me into the chapel, where something I had never thought I'd see in real life was waiting.

Juice was hunched over a bleeding Irishman from the way he talked when he yelled out in pain, Chibs was poking around the poor guys ass with a pair of tweezers and blood was gushing everywhere. "What in the hell?" My eyes were wide taking it all in.

"Never mind that. You go to nursing school right? Help Chibs get the slugs out. Your brother went to find Tara."

I noticed then that Juice wasn't just standing there, he had his fingers plugging up a bullet hole with a panicked expression written all over his face. "I don't know how." I admitted still not moving from my place. "

"What do you mean you don't know how? What the hell am I paying for if you can't patch up a bullet hole?" Dad threw his hands up in exasperation.

"I've only been in school for a semester. I can…. I don't know… try to clean it up." I offered moving a little closer. "I need gloves. Juice should have some on too."

Juice shook his head keeping his hand pressed down. "Too late for that. My fingers been in his ass for over two hours now."

I took the gloves Chibs tossed at me, they looked like dish gloves but they were better than nothing. "When is Tara getting here?"

"Soon. Jax left a long time ago." Juice replied talking in a low voice, the Irishman had passed out. No doubt from the liquor bottle that was sitting on the table beside his head.

"Aye. He should have been back by now. I think all we can do now is clean it up for when the lass gets here." Chibs patted the Irishman on the back.

I nodded going to work, not having any real idea of where to even start at on this. Chibs left the room, going to see what was happening with Dad leaving the two of us alone. I didn't speak to Juice and he didn't speak to me. The only sound in the room was the man's deep breathing. "Who is he?" I finally asked wiping an alcohol pad across his skin.

"Cameron. He's a friend of the club." Juice replied trying to squat down into a sitting position while keeping the hole plugged up. "My knees are killing me."

"Here." I pushed a chair out for him with my foot, being careful not to touch anything with my bloodied hands. "You want me to get you a cigarette? Drink?"

Juice shook his head sitting down in the chair gratefully. His clothes were covered in the dried dark red blood. "You should get outta here."

"I'm fine. I'm not a little girl." I referred to his snarky little girlfriends remark about me. "I can handle it."

He didn't say anything back. I was just finishing up cleaning the wound Chibs had already pulled one slug out of when Tara finally rushed into the room with Mom following behind her looking irritated. Tara looked confused when she saw me standing there at first then pushed more gloves at me. "Change those gloves out and help me. I'm going to get you to pull your finger out of that hole, then clamp it."

I held it together until Juice really did pull his finger out and the blood squirted out everywhere. I took off feeling my stomach churn, puking on the floor of the clubhouse getting a groan from Half Sack. "Seriously?"

I flipped him off hunched over, heaving when Juice walked by sporting a proud grin despite looking like a murder victim. "You ok?"

"Perfectly perfect." I mumbled pushing past him to go to the bathroom and wash my mouth out. Tara had beaten me to it, washing up from her little impromptu surgery.

Tara tossed her gloves into the trash beside mine looking pale and ashen. "So much for leaving work at the office huh?" She joked with a weak smile.

"I'm not even a nurse." I grabbed the mouthwash from Jax's cluster of junk and swished it around before spitting. Tara was using the tub to scrub herself so I could use the sink. "Now we have to go to our real jobs."

"If there's even a line drawn between the two anymore." 


	18. Chapter 18

**Apologies for the wait on the update, I'll be getting back into my every two days schedule again. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for the support with reviews and follows. Its inspiration in an email :D**

**Jessica1018 gets credit as always for her work. **

**I do not own SOA. Just my OC's. **

Chapter 18 The hard stuff

The weight of the world was on my shoulders when I woke up. Donna was dead. It hung down around me like a wet jacket would. I couldn't believe it. One minute we were talking at Abel's homecoming party, the next minute Jax came back and told us it was Donna that had been shot. All I could think about was poor Ellie and Kenny.

I moved around slowly getting ready for class at a snails pace. I was in no rush, I'd debated on not even going at first but I couldn't afford to miss anymore days unless I absolutely needed to. I knew Jess was already gone, she'd woken me up with her morning sickness in the bathroom before it was even daylight. She was supposed to talk to Luann today about her decision to stop working for a few months. She'd heard about Donna and waited up for me to get home, and sniffled along with me remembering when we'd baby-sit the kids before Opie got out of Chino.

I stayed in my daze until I got to the hospital, the one good thing about today was that I was starting work in the maternity ward, Tara was true to her word. She pulled strings and got me a job with her, only I changed the babies diapers, did feedings, and all the basic grunt work. Abel was out of here, but I still loved looking at all of the little bodies in there bassinets sleeping.

"Did you hear… how Jax did with Abel last night on his own?" Tara asked quietly coming into the nursery with me.

I finished the diaper I was changing before speaking to her. "They did good. Wendy was there." I knew that was a sour spot with Tara just by the way she stormed out of the house last night. Part of me hoped Jax would make things right with Wendy, and the other part wanted to like Tara.

Tara fiddled with her clipboard keeping her eyes downcast. "Why don't you like me Aleah?"

"I never said I didn't like you Tara." I replied coolly, brushing past her to get another diaper out for my next bite size patient. "I just don't like the things you've done."

"You of all people should know why I left. Why I didn't want the club." Tara half whispered shaking her head. "You know how hard it is."

I ripped open the bag of Pampers putting them in the little cubby space in a stack. "I do know how hard it is. But my brother got hurt, and I don't like seeing him hurt." I had no idea where my venom was coming from when I speaking to her. "I don't appreciate someone coming into his life at a time he doesn't need anymore distractions. He's married."

"Jackson is a grown man. He knows what he's doing. And I know they're divorcing."

"Yeah they are. But that doesn't mean you have to rub salt in Wendy's wounds. it's the hardest thing she'll ever have to do in her life, stay clean." I stopped working to look her in the eyes. "And I can fully relate to needing someone to love you when you're dealing with that."

Tara held my gaze, showing me she wasn't going to back down. "I didn't come back to hurt him Aleah. I swear. I don't know what happened with you, but I do know I can relate to one side of it."

I broke the stare, not wanting her to see the sting in my eyes at the person we were referring to. I'd avoided contact with him since the night we stitched up Cameron, even at Jax's house, I stayed in the kitchen with the Crow eaters until he left to follow Tara home. "I don't talk about him."

"Maybe you should."

"Maybe." I whispered grabbing the wipes and going to change a sweet little girl. "Wendy's leaving after the funeral. I'm going to check on Abel every chance I can but I'm sure Jax would like every pair of hands he can get." I wasn't going to come out and say it, but that was all I had to offer in the form of an okay on her.

Tara squeezed my shoulder before she left the nursery with a small smile. I worked until around noon and went down to the front steps to meet Logan. It was a little ritual we'd started, taking our lunches at the same time and walking down to Nikki's together. I spotted him leaning against the building, dressed in his usual khakis and a polo he wore to work at the courthouse. "Hi." I waved over to him trying not to make it obvious that I was pulling my aqua colored scrubs up as I walked.

"I've been waiting for a bit." Logan smiled giving me a soft kiss on the lips taking my hand in his. "I'm starved."

"I'm not too hungry." I didn't have much of an appetite, my stomach was in knots from last night still. "Its been a rough 24hours."

Logan squeezed my hand while we talked down the sidewalk, me leaning into his side a little bit. "You should still eat something. You were friends with that lady right?"

I nodded, sighing a little thinking on Donna again. "Kind of. She married my brothers friend. I used to watch her kids." I was always vague with Logan on how well I knew any of the club members, he didn't ask much about them thankfully. He didn't even know Juice was the ex that ripped my heart out.

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to go to the funeral with you?" He offered looking like he genuinely cared.

I shook my head, knowing he'd be out of place and unwanted. "No its okay. My family will be there." I slid down in the bright red booth across from him picking up the worn out menu. "Thanks though."

"No problem. I'm here for you." Logan rubbed my hand on top of the table looking down at the menu too. "I'll come over later, or you can come to my place."

I didn't want to go over to his place, or him come over to mine. I wanted to be alone. Well as alone as I could get with Jess whining over how bad she felt every few minutes. How Carter hadn't figured out she was pregnant yet was a mystery. "Maybe. I was planning on going to Jax's place and helping out with the baby. Visiting my sister in law before she leaves."

"Oh yeah that's right. You told me she was going to Seattle. Guess I'll just see you on Wednesday then." Logan let it roll off of him, not getting upset it'd be a couple of days before we saw each other again. "No biggie. I think I can last that long."

"Maybe I can squeeze you tomorrow night. It depends on how it goes." I knew there was a good chance I'd be washing dishes and cooking for the crowds of bikers that were riding in for the funeral, not to mention helping Mom get the clubhouse cleaned up before they got there. The crow eaters would help, but it never hurt to have extra hands. I glanced out of the window just as Juice, Dad, and Tig blew by.

Juice's POV

I knocked lightly on the brown door that read B3 in front of me hoping I wasn't going to wake anyone up. I'd scoped out the parking lot before I made my last minute decision to walk up the steep stairs to the place I knew I could find what I needed the most. Comfort. Jessica's Mazda was gone, Carter's Tahoe wasn't there, and neither was that douche bags gay ass Lancer.

I started to turn and walk back down the stairs when the door rattled and cracked open a tiny bit. "Juice? What are you doing here?" Aleah whispered poking her head out. Her dark locks were sticking up in spots and she had thrown a robe on over her pajamas.

"Shit.. I didn't know you'd be asleep. I'm sorry. I'll go.." I didn't know what the hell I was thinking, it was late. I should have known she'd be passed out by now.

Aleah opened the door up more, enough for me to come inside. "Its okay. Come in."

I sucked in a breath knowing this was my last chance to bail before I stepped in behind her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was this late." I apologized again watching her turn on a lamp. "I just.. don't have anywhere else to go."

"What's wrong?" She asked softly leading me to the bright red couch. I'd only been inside the place once or twice, and that was before Aleah moved in. It looked pretty much the same.

I sank down leaning forward to put my head in my hands. A lot was wrong. Donna was dead. Bobby was in jail for murder. I'd managed to shake Brandi off after ignoring all her calls since the fight night. And I turned Happy, Tig, and Chibs loose on a innocent little girl.

"I… shit… Lee, I did something. And I don't like it." I shut my eyes remembering Jax crashing into the clubhouse demanding to know where they were at. "I meant to do it. But then… I regretted it almost right after."

Aleah's hands rubbed my back through my cut in a comforting manner. "Its okay Juice. I don't know what happened but its okay."

Part of me wanted to tell her what I did. The other part knew better, it was club business. "So much shit has went down." I straightened up letting myself enjoy her touch before I grabbed her hand to stop her. "I'm sorry, you don't need to hear about my problems."

"Its fine. We can be friends right?" She sat back with her knees tucked into her chest studying me. "You know you can talk to me."

I did know that, that's why I drove around for an hour before I pulled in. She was still the only friend I had. "What I did…. It was bad Lee."

Aleah pulled the fleece bathrobe closer around her body. "You're a Son, you have to do things you don't always want to do. It doesn't make you a bad person Juice."

I nodded taking the risk of leaning back and putting on her knees. "I know. I just don't… I'm not…" I didn't want to sound like a complete pussy but I wasn't hard like Clay or Tig. I had a conscious about hurting a girl that was almost the same age as the woman I loved.

"Shhhh…. Talk about something else. Get your mind off of it." She didn't move my hand off, but she didn't touch it either. "We haven't talked much. How's Bambi?"

I gave her a look, shaking my head at her antics. "Her names Brandi and you know it. And I don't know how she is. I haven't talked to her in a week." I laid my head back in the micro suede, it was pretty comfortable.

"Hmmm.. Funny I thought for sure you had her tongue permanently in your throat." Aleah shot off next, the animosity loud and clear.

"How's your errand boy? Lug nut? Paper pusher? He seemed like a regular old Mr. Rogers." Let her suck on that one for a while. I'd done my research on the good for nothing asshole after I pressed Carter for a few key things about him. He was a bitch boy at the courthouse, squeaky clean record, and the type of guy that would cry over a paper cut.

Aleah bristled beside me in the dim lamp light. "Logan is fine. He actually _is_ a nice guy if that's such a crime."

I shrugged noticing how she was starting to lean closer towards me now. "Guess not. Long as he's treatin you ok."

"He is. Why'd you dump Bambi?" she asked with a little smirk on her pretty face, her bottom lip curled. "Did you get a recall on her from the toy factory?"

Brandi was fake. A lot of fake. But she did things that curled my toes. She just wasn't what I wanted. "Wasn't my type. Too clingy." I shut my eyes feeling ten times more calm than I did when I got here. "I guess…. Shit… lets talk about something else."

"We don't have to talk." Aleah whispered finally leaning all the way into me. Her head tucked under my arm now, her legs slanted and I was careful not to move in case she realized it and moved away. "Lets just sit here a while. I'm tired."

"Yeah. Me too." I mumbled drifting off.

Aleah's POV

Confusion hit me when loud snoring woke me up. Then I remembered. Juice came over, and it was Juice's arm that was thrown over me holding me in place. I blinked a few times letting it sink in before I shook him. "Juice.." I whispered loudly. "Juice, get up."

He started bolting straight up, hand going to his side. "What's wrong?"

"You fell asleep with a gun?" I snapped in disbelief.

"Well… yeah.. I mean.. I didn't mean to fall asleep here." Juice stood up towering me with our height difference.

I glared at him, thinking on all of the what ifs that could have happened while we were asleep. "Just go. I'll see you around." I tightened my robe around my body suddenly embarrassed to be seen looking like this by a man that had already saw it before.

"Hey… don't be mad. I'm sorry."

I wasn't mad at him. I was upset with myself for letting us fall asleep together like that. It wasn't a road I was going down again and that was a little too close for comfort. "I'm not mad Juice… I'm just…. Last night.. Just friends ok? No more sleepovers."

"Yeah. No more sleepovers. I swear." Juice gave me a grin, the goofiness coming back to him now that he'd gotten all the stress out of his system from last night.

"Good. I'll see you later ok?"

Juice swallowed like he wanted to say something else but was stopping himself before he let himself out at the same time Jessica breezed by him giving him a look could have killed. "Umm.. What was he doing here?" she asked giving me a pointed look. "I thought you were over that."

I picked Gizmo up rubbing his stubby little ears. "He.. Needed something." I hit the start button the coffee pot. "He wasn't here that long."

"Uh huh. Well this is what needing something gets you." She pointed at her stomach that was finally starting to look a little pudgy. "And unemployment."

"I wouldn't have to worry about the unemployment. Dad would kill me before my first check came." I laughed at her giving her spray tanned skin a frown now touching it. "We didn't do anything even close to having sex anyways. How'd it go last night?"

Jessica grabbed Gizmo's leash off the counter taking him from me for his morning walk. "I didn't tell him yet." She shifted the wiggling dog around. "I'll do it tomorrow, today's just not a good day for it."

Today wasn't a good day for anything. The funeral was nice, with a huge turnout of people from all of the charters riding in. It wasn't too often we had to bury one of own, it hit hard. Opie sat in the front not speaking to anyone just nodding when people stopped by to whisper condolences to him. The kids were crying their eyes out sitting with Mary and Piney on either side of them, I felt helpless. I sat beside Mom ,with Dad standing behind us when I spotted Jax coming over the hill. I let out a low gasp when I got a good look at his face, dried blood and beaten.

I was more than ready to get back into the regular swing of things on Wednesday when I went to work at the garage. Half Sack was keeping me company pretending to be sweeping up the floor for me while we talked. "So, you're not scared to have your balls cut open? Well.. Ball." I corrected myself. I was amazed at the surgery he was telling me about looking into it.

Half Sack blushed looking a little sheepish. "Not really. I mean, after getting it blown off it doesn't really bother you." He leaned on his broom surveying the lot. "Here comes the mail."

"Good. Maybe they're bringing the new computer Mom ordered to replace this dinosaur." I tapped a pen against the broke down piece of junk. It had to be as old as I was.

"Maybe. Or maybe some more of those cookies that the school board sends as gifts for donations." He sat down on the desk watching the mail man dig through the truck. "You doing ok?"

I shrugged my shoulders, the white and pink polka dot shirt I was wear rising up a little bit above my belly button. I was gaining back all of the weight I lost and then some. I was pushing a size 10 now. "I'm as good as I can be Kip. Clean for a couple of months now."

He gave me a shy grin standing back up when the mail man came towards us carrying a large box. "That's real good. I'm glad."

"Delivery for Teller-Morrow Garage, it says leave with whoever is available." Bill the mailman smiled. He'd been delivering since I was a kid. "Nice to see you kiddo."

"You too Bill. Thanks." I scribbled my signature down on his little screen. "Here Sack, help me move it in the corner until I can get Juice in here."

Half Sack easily picked it up sliding it to the spot I pointed at. "No problemo. I think he's in the clubhouse if you want me to grab him."

I glanced over at it, seeing a few of the guys hanging around outside with the girls. "I'll go grab him."

"You sure? I don't mind… I know its kinda.. Weird."

I grinned at him showing him it was fine. "I don't mind. We're on decent terms now." I assured him smoothing down my hair before I walked out of the door. "Just keep an eye on the place until I get back."

He gave me a dummy salute going to sit at the desk. "Ay yi Captain."

I rolled my eyes heading across the asphalt to the find the resident computer geek to hook us back up. I waved to Tig who was standing by the door smoking. "I'm getting lunch soon, let me know if you want anything." I called over to him.

Tig gave me a grin I couldn't read, but his eyes were lit up when he saw me going down the hallway. "Nah, I think I'm good sweetheart."

I didn't see Juice when I first went inside so I knew he had to be inside his room. I paused at the door, the last one down the hall the only one with a number on the door. I knocked lightly waiting for him to open it before I just walked inside. I doubted he was doing anything too exciting in there, but I would play it nice and polite.

"Yeah?" Juice yelled, I could hear movement inside the room.

I turned the knob pushing it open taking that as an okay to enter and froze. "Oh shit… I'm sorry!" Juice was halfway on top Mia the sweet butt and they were both very obviously naked underneath the sheet that covered them. "I'm sorry…" I turned and slammed the door before he could speak. I leaned on it for a moment trying to get myself together before I went back down the hall.

I wasn't sure if I was feeling jealous, angry, or embarrassed. Or maybe a combo of all three. I took a deep shaky breath before taking off down the hall before he could come out. Tig was standing at the bar the same tell all grin on his face. "You. Are . Such. An asshole." I hissed at him pointing my index finger in his face. "Why in the hell would you do that?"

Tig shrugged looking a little too gleeful at what had just happened. "Gotta get my kicks from somewhere."

A door closing loudly told me I needed to get out of there as fast as I could. I gave Tig one last angry/hurt look before practically running out of the clubhouse. I scurried across the parking lot quickly, proud of myself for not tripping in the wedges I had on. Half Sack was spinning around in circles in the desk chair. "Get up."

He stopped hopping up immediately. "What happened?" he asked peering at my face.

"Nothing. Can you…. Check my oil for me?" I asked not wanting to be rude and tell him to leave, but I didn't want to break down in front of him either.

Half Sack nodded grabbing my keys from the desk. "Sure. I'll shut the door on my way out."

I sat at the desk festering for a while with my hair in two bunches in my hands. I was sleeping with Logan, so why did it bother me to know Juice was sleeping with Mia? He had to get off from somewhere, Juice wasn't a hand job kinda guy. My phone rang pulling me out of my latest crisis. "Hey. What's up?" I answered it seeing it was Jess.

"She replaced me already." Jess sniffled into the phone.

"You were quitting anyways, what's it matter if she hired a new girl?" I frowned not understanding what the problem was.

Jessica sighed loudly into my ear. "She hired Ima. She's such a bitch. She called me a fat ass on my way out today."

I lowered my eyes into slits, angry. Jessica was far from fat, and even if she was, she was three months pregnant. "Well, you're moving onto classier things now. Their loss. Don't let it get under your skin."

"I know…. What time are you coming home at? I told Carter I'd make dinner at our place. I'm not feeling too great."

"I'll be back by at least 6, we're closing up here soon. I don't want to be the third wheel though." I doodled little hearts and stars on the paper in front of me.

"You're not. I don't want to be alone with him. I'm scared he'll want to have sex and notice before I can work out a way to tell him." she admitted making me laugh a little bit. My friend, the porn star, didn't want to have sex with her boyfriend. We hung up a few minutes later, making our plans for the night. I opened the office door back up, my moment of pity was over. Whatever feelings I had still locked away for Juice would stay that way.

I rushed to lock up, leaving Half Sack to finish the garage side on his own, trying to make it over to see Abel before I went home. The little guy was growing like a weed and cuter by the day. I let myself in seeing Tara's car in the driveway. "Hey! Aunt Lee Lee is here." I grinned spotting them on the couch.

Tara was holding Abel to her chest giving him his bottle. "Hey. I didn't know you were coming by." She passed him over to me when I sat down beside her.

"I didn't either. I was leaving work and wanted to swing by. See how he was doing. I figured you'd be here with him since Mom is at home and Jax is at the clubhouse." I touched Abel's soft, fine blonde hair. "He's gotten so big."

"He has. Jax is doing so good with him." Tara smiled down at the baby boy in my arms. "So how are you? I haven't gotten a chance to stop in the nursery when you've been there again."

I maneuvered Abel around, resting him over my shoulder to burp him. "Good. Just… going through the motions with everything. I don't know if I ever said thanks for the help getting the job. But I really do appreciate it Tara."

She waved a hand brushing me off like it was nothing. "I don't mind helping a friend."

"Or a potential sister in law?" I asked grinning at her. I'd warmed up to her some, seeing how good she was doing. Not many women would take care of their boyfriends baby from his ex wife.

Tara blushed pulling at her dark green top. "I don't know about that. Hey, I heard you're seeing that cute preppy guy that's always standing outside the doors at lunch time."

I knew the nurses gossiped…. But geez. "For now. I don't know about that either. He's not…"

"He's not a Son." Tara finished with a knowing look. "It'll happen. It took us ten years to get back to each other."

"Its not just that…. I don't know if I even want to put up with a Son. Or Logan."

She nodded understanding completely what I meant. It was confusing as hell. I stayed over there visiting with Tara and Abel a few minutes longer before I took off to try to make it home in time for Jess's dinner. Pregnancy had her cooking up a storm, even though she threw up most of what she made. I let myself in the apartment, the sounds of an action movie blaring through the door.

"I'm home." I poked my head around the wall into the living room where Jess was curled up beside Carter.

Carter tore his eyes away from whatever movie had him in a trance long enough to nod at me a plate of food in his lap. "Hey. I can restart it if you wanna watch."

I shook my head going to make myself a plate. "Nah. Not really my type of movie but thanks." I moved around getting my food together when I heard a soft knocking. "I'll get it."

Jessica didn't even move, Carter just gave me a thumbs up still staring at the TV. I kicked my shoes off on my way over feeling like a midget instantly. I opened it up, not worried about who might be on the other side since Carter the muscle man was over. "Ohhh…. Hey." I stared at Juice who was leaning in the frame.

"Hey." He gave me a smile, he was playing with his rings twirling them around nervously. "I should have called first."

"Its okay. Did you.. Want to come in?" I looked over my shoulder checking to see if the other two inside had noticed who was here yet.

Juice nodded slowly like he wasn't sure if he wanted to or not, stepping inside. "Are you busy? I can go.."

I touched his arm showing him to come with me into the kitchen. "No, I actually just got here. You had good timing."

"Who was at the door?" Jessica yelled from her little burrow under Carter's arm. Carter leaned up to look over the back of the couch. I saw a hint of a grin on his face.

"Hey man." He gave Juice a wave, poking at Jess when she muttered something with a dirty look thrown to Juice.

Juice looked awkward standing beside me, like he wanted to bolt for the door now. "What's up?"

I grabbed another plate down from the cabinet fixing it for Juice without even asking if he'd ate yet or wanted to. "Let's take this to my room. We can put a movie on or something. Grab us something to drink from the fridge."

He trudged over and grabbed us out a couple of drinks following me down the hall into the small space I called home. It wasn't fancy, or lavishly decorated but it was private and he didn't have to worry about Jess making snide remarks to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think about you doing something tonight." he apologized again for the third time.

"Juice, stop apologizing. Its fine. Friends drop in on friends all the time." Or I thought they did. I'd never been friends with someone I used to have sex with on a regular basis.

"Actually, I came by to apologize about earlier." He explained setting his plate and drink down on the nightstand while he kicked his boots off before climbing on the bed beside me. "I should've did it when it happened. I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

Shrugging, I picked up the remote channel surfing until I found the cheesiest biker show ever. It was always good for laughs because even I knew these guys weren't a real MC. "Its fine. I shouldn't have just opened your door up and let myself in."

He forked up a bite of food after he looked at it suspiciously. "You didn't poison this, did you?"

"Thought about it, but no. All out of rat poison tonight. Think Jess used it all on Carter's plate." I grinned sitting cross legged with my food in the hole of my legs. "But seriously Juice, its okay. I know you have sex. I have sex. It happens."

Juice's eyes darkened for a split second when I mentioned I had sex but he didn't comment on it. He just ate without talking watching the TV intently. I finished before he did and hopped up to turn the light off, the glare was hitting the TV at an angle that drove me crazy. "You can change it if you want."

"No its cool. I like this. This shit is so fake its not even funny. No MC would let cameras come in. Can you imagine them following Clay or Happy around?"

I laughed out loud imagining the shock the viewers would feel if they saw Happy at work for a day, or the camera men trying to keep up with them. "I know right? Not everyone can be as bad ass as the SOA though."

"You know it. We're the baddest of the bad." He smirked leaning back into the pillows that were fluffed up behind him.

I studied him laying there, the glow of the TV on his face, it made him look even younger than he already appeared. He'd taken his cut off and was laying there in his t-shirt and jeans like it was natural to be in my bed. He looked away from the show, catching me looking at him and smiled holding his arm out to me. I fell into it instantly accepting the invitation to cuddle. Logan wasn't a big cuddler at any time, including after sex. I'd missed just feeling someone's body against mine the past couple of months.

"You smell like baby." Juice whispered through my hair.

I giggled at how blunt he could be sometimes. "Well you smell like grungy biker."

"Do not. I showered before I came." He argued touching my toes with his. "I even put cologne on."

"Gee, I feel so special. You came to my place after a shower to watch my TV and hog my bed."

He scooted over some to his right then pulled me over back to the crook of his arm. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure. You know you can always talk to me." I reminded him snuggling into his side enjoying his body heat. Gizmo had to be curled up on the couch with Jess and Carter, he was usually my snuggle buddy.

Juice touched my hair with the tips of his fingers, just enough to feel it but not run his hands through. "I don't like sleeping alone." he admitted looking sheepish and embarrassed. "I've been staying at the clubhouse just because the guys usually sleep there too. I didn't want to give Gizzy back because I was sleeping with him."

"The big bad biker is afraid to be alone?" I teased with a grin on my face at the thought. It was like hearing Juice was afraid of the dark.

"I'm not afraid to be alone. I've been alone for a long time. I just don't _want _to be alone."

I listened to what he was really saying with his words. He didn't like the idea of going to bed alone and waking up alone simply because it made him feel alone in the world. "Can I tell you something?" I whispered back to him not wanting Jess or Carter to overhear us if they were in the room next to mine.

Juice nodded, I could feel his chin hitting the top of my head with the motion. "I'm glad you came over." I really was. I liked this new level of friendship we had going where we talked and were relaxed, no arguing or being upset with each other.

"Me too Lee. Me too." He finally let his hand stroke my hair in slow, comforting motions. "I feel bad for what I did to you."

I shut my eyes thinking back to that day. It was one of my worst memories, one of the most down moments of my life. "I said stuff I shouldn't have too. It wasn't your fault I got hooked on blow. It was mine. I'm sorry."

"Guess we're both guilty."

"I take back what I said." I nuzzled his bicep with my nose getting full on comfortable in his arms. "We can have one more sleepover. If you want to."

"Always."


	19. Out take

**A little bit of an outtake to see more of Carter, cuz well… I like him ;) regular chapter is posted next. You can skip this if you want to. **

Outtake

Screeching tires made me look up from the Oldsmobile I had the hood up on doing an oil change to. The little silver Mazda zipped into the space beside my newly finished bike. I wiped my hands off an a red shop rag a grin spreading across my face at the sight of the leggy blonde climbing out of the drivers seat. Jessica always made me feel like it was the first time I was looking at her. "I'm takin a break." I told Juice who was messing with Clay's bike getting it ready for some of their illicit activities no doubt.

"Sure. Its slow anyways." He nodded digging through the tools beside him. "I see Barbie stopped by."

I rolled my eyes, the two of them just couldn't get along. Juice tried more than Jessica did, but that wasn't saying much. I'd saw him be nicer to the stray cat that came around than he was to her sometimes. "I'll be back." I met her halfway stopping her before she tried to hug me. I was filthy. "I'm covered in grease babe."

Jessica nodded her eyes looked a little red like she'd been upset about something. She crossed her arms over herself, making it look like she had wings in the little throw thingy she had on over her jeans and camisole. "We should talk."

"Okay. We can talk. Why aren't you at work anyways?" I realized it was still way too early for her to be done at the studio. I hadn't even had a lunch break yet. Jessica usually got off way later around 6 or 7 depending on what they were doing.

"That's one of the things we need to talk about. Shit….. Carter, I didn't want to come by like this, I wanted to do at home but now everything came up…" She moved a rock around with her foot while keeping her eyes down.

I frowned a little wondering what had happened that I was completely oblivious to. "Come on. We can talk over here." I led her to one of the tables that lined the area by the office. "Sit down. Now… what's going on?"

Jessica let out a deep breath, sounding like she'd been holding it in for a while. "Promise me you won't make a scene first."

_What in the hell….. Was she coming to break up with me in front of my coworkers? _I leaned forwards to get a better look at her face. "Okay…. I promise." I said slowly wondering what was about to happen. I hadn't done anything to make her mad, not that I could think of anyways.

"I'm pregnant."

Pregnant. I knew that should have terrified the shit out of me but instead I grinned feeling the happiness spread through my body. "Really?!" I exclaimed not even caring that I was filthy anymore, I wrapped my arms around her hugging her tight to my body.

"Yes… I thought you'd be… mad." Jessica slid an arm around me, the only movement she could make in my bone crushing embrace.

"No. Hell no. This is great." I told her kissing her forehead, nose, then her lips. Pregnant meant a lot of things. I'd accomplished what I set out to do a couple of months ago when she told me she'd missed a few pills and saw the opportunity. Pregnant meant no more porn studio, no more guys checking her out, no more begging her to move in, it was the best thing I'd heard in years beyond the words "You're free to go without bail Mr. Jensen"

"Carter, you're squashing me."

"Oh… sorry. I didn't hurt anything did I?" I asked still grinning like an idiot looking at the woman next to me that was carrying my child. I loved her like crazy, would do anything for her.

Jessica shook her head toying with her long hair that was blowing in the wind. "I had to quit CaraCara a couple of days ago. I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't find anyone else that'll hire me pregnant but I can't do porn either. I don't want a baby."

I did. I wanted a baby, especially with her. Now she was mine, all mine. "We'll work it out. You can always move in with me you know." I had plenty of space at my place. It'd make more sense once the baby came for her to live with me anyways. I wanted to be an involved Dad not a bum that never changed diapers.

"No. I don't want to move in with you." She sighed giving me a sad look. "I want to live in my apartment, and keep my car, and all the other things I worked my ass off for."

"I don't want you doing movies." I told her in a low, even tone that sounded more authorotive than I was used to using. "You're pregnant, you can't be in front of the camera."

"Trust me I know that. I'm too fat for porn now. I'm almost 13 weeks."

_Whoa. She'd been pregnant for a while. A long while. How in the world did I miss that? _I automatically looked down at her stomach, noticing she was slightly bigger but no major changes yet. "We'll figure it out babe. I'll help you out, you should know that. I have a little saved up plus…. I'm supposed to get my Prospect cut soon." I'd worked my ass off trying to get a good in with these guys and it finally happened. They finally acknowledged I might be able to hack it with them. If Juice the computer nerd could run with it, I was pretty sure I could. Jail wasn't new to me, it'd just be for a whole new set of reasons.

"I'm supposed to go on bed rest." She ducked her head back down guiltily. "Aleah made me go see Dr. Reynolds today, I wasn't feeling so hot and spotting."

A jolt ran through my chest. Bed rest wasn't a good sign. Not at this stage. "Why aren't you at home then? You shouldn't have came by, I could've came to you. Or went with you to the appointment." I was irritated that she'd taken her friend with her instead of me. I understood they were close, but it was like I could never be the first in line or something. Not even for my own pregnancy.

"It was on my way to the apartment. I needed to stop and grab food too anyways." She explained with a thin lipped smile. "I'm fine Carter, don't look at me like that."

"You need to get home. C'mon I'll drive you and then go get you something to eat." I stood up brushing my hands off on my jeans. "I'll tell Gemma we had something come up I can't ditch out on."

She reluctantly let me pull her towards her car. I could still feel the excitement in my bones at the news. This was great. I couldn't wait to tell everyone and anyone that would listen. "I'll drive, just give me a minute to get settled up here." I told her pointing at the other side of the car. I jogged over to the office suddenly nervous about telling the shop Queen I needed to take off early.

I knocked lightly on the metal door frame before I stepped in. Gemma was hunched over the desk with her glasses perched on the end of her nose. "You need something sugar?"

I grinned wringing my hands around nervously. "Uhhh yeah. I need to take off. Something just came up."

"You seem awfully happy for a man that's having an emergency." She noted pushing her glasses up when she looked at me.

"Yeah… its not anything bad exactly…" I looked behind at the waiting car that was running. "Jess came by with some news, and I need to take her home and get settled. At least until Aleah gets there. I can come back later tonight if you guys need me to."

Gemma put her pen down leaning back in the chair looking at me hard. "And what exactly is this news? Just curious, you know I practically raised that girl like my own."

The guys were right. Gemma was nosey. "I don't know if I should even say anything yet… She's pregnant, but she's supposed to be on bed rest so I wanted to get her taken care of." I explained my grin getting so wide it almost hurt my cheeks.

"Bed rest? Geez. Well congratulations Dad." She slid her glasses off and tossed them down on the desk. "You don't need to come back in tonight, I'll have Half Sack come over and finish up. Juice will help."

"Thanks Gem." I took off back to the little car that was waiting on me. Could this day get any better?

Jessica was a grouchy, mean, sickly pregnant woman after just a week of telling me. She ordered me around, threw up, cried, then threw up some more. She was clingy, calling me constantly while I was at work which was so unlike her that even the guys were starting to give me shit.

"Hey Prospect, you better ask the lass if its okay to eat lunch." Chibs joked going past me to grab a wrench he needed.

Prospect. I was proud as hell to hear that term being used on me. Sack had a couple of more months to go before his year was up, but I'd more or less taken over the term a couple of days ago when they'd voted on me. So far, I'd had about 10 hours of sleep spread out over a week but it'd be okay. It'd slow down. Juice assured me they ran him into the ground the first couple of months too, making sure he could hold up to their torture tactics. The worst one yet was cleaning the bathroom after Piney.

"I heard we're gonna have a little papoose soon." Tig jeered with a sneer propping up on the tow truck.

I grinned like I always did at the mention of the baby. The baby was about the size of a walnut but it was still a baby in my mind with my eyes and Jessica's hair. "Yeah. Around the holidays." I rubbed my forehead trying not to look too excited around them.

Juice snickered lighting up a cigarette. The guy was going to give himself cancer at the rate he was smoking. "Just what the world needs, another Jessica. Didn't anyone teach you about rubbers?"

"Shut up man. I know how it works. Trust me." I chuckled refusing the pack he held out to me. Smoking hadn't ever been my thing, I rarely even smoked pot and it was usually with Juice when I did.

"Course you know how it works. You're fuckin a porn star for Christ sake." Tig shot off his eyes starting to dance around. "So man, give us the goods. Is it good?"

I groaned disgusted at sharing anything with him. The others, not so much but Tig was… a freak. How in the hell Juice survived a year with Tig for a mentor was a mystery to me. Bobby was in jail but I lucked out and got voted in with Chibs sponsoring me. "We're not going there." I warned him.

"Why not? We're all brothers here. Almost. And we share everything don't we Juicy Boy?"

Juice rolled his eyes digging under his nails with the knife he carried on his waist. "Some things, I don't wanna know about that girl."

"Ye gonna have to drop that if he makes her his ole lady." Chibs spoke up with a grin for Juice who made a face. "Gotta respect her if he gets that far with it."

"She'll have to learn some respect too." Juice said walking around in a slow circle still picking at his filthy hands. "Got a mouth on her that I can't even stomach and I'm the nicest guy around here."

"I wouldn't brag about that." Tig laughed at him. "So come on… how is it? Hap tried to get at it a few times."

That was news to me. I'd never heard jack about Happy trying to get at Jessica, didn't matter since there wasn't shit I could really do about it. "Its good. Its sex just like with anyone else."

"You sure its your kid?" Juice asked looking dead serious. "I mean.. she does porn."

Porn seemed to be the hot topic around the garage today. "Yeah I'm sure its mine." I sighed wishing we could drop the conversation just as fast as it began. "She didn't do anything but oral and lesbian stuff."

The guys hooted with laughter as soon as the words left my mouth. Juice looked amused even though it was his arch enemy we were talking about. "So she gave head and hand jobs only?"

"Yeah. Same thing you're used to getting." I snapped back at Juice, the first time either of us had ever been ill with each other since we started hanging out.

He just flashed his goofy grin that made him look like a friggin ten year old at me. "Just makin sure we're on the same page. Prospect."

"All right, enough shit talking to the new guy. Get back to work bums." Clay's voice rang out through the office door that led into the shop. "Juice, you got shit to do at the clubhouse. Prospect get the bar stocked up Bobby will be here tonight and we're expecting a crowd."

I wiped the counter down with a wet rag hurriedly trying to help Half Sack get everything done. We had a while before the crowd would get here but according to Half Sack if I wanted to stay caught up we needed to be prepared now. "Who's that?" I asked him nodding at a blonde that came in and started sweeping up the floor. I'd only been into the clubhouse a couple of times since I started work at TM, and that was counting the new years eve party.

"Crow Eater. Her names Michelle." Half Sack grinned pressing his palms down on the wooden surface looking over at her. "You like her? We get last pick though bro."

"Ohh… No. Just wondering who in their right mind would willingly start cleaning this place up without pay." I looked away from the woman as more started filing in, some carrying containers and others simply going to sit on the sofa. "The guys ever let us go with them?"

Half Sack nodded shoving a beer at me, twisting the cap off on his own. "Sometimes. Just depends. Juice is usually their lag behind though. We get the bitch jobs."

Bitch jobs fit it perfectly. Once the guys got back from whatever they'd been doing the party really started. I was shoving drinks across the counter at a record pace with Sack and the blonde named Michelle. Every now and then another one of the females would slip behind and get drinks and hand them out but it was a constant. These guys drank like they were breathing air.

A pretty raven haired girl I recognized from Gina's pizza sauntered over to me when I saw chance to take a break. "Hey.. You're new?"

I dragged on my long neck nodding. "Yeah. Just started Prospecting a couple of days ago." I looked over the lot, amazed at the change it took on from the daytime to the night. There was a huge grill fired up, people dancing around, blow jobs in the open, a couple guys in the ring, and the music full blast.

"I'm Molli." She smiled touching my bicep with her finger tips.

"Carter." I replied not wanting to get too friendly. "I gotta go." I backed away letting her hand drop to her side. Geez…. If I were a single man this would be heaven. But I wasn't, I had a very pregnant, very angry girlfriend waiting for me to get home so she could complain no doubt. I was sympathetic with her after talking to Tara earlier on after I finished in the garage. According to the doc Jess was just starting to feel the full affects of pregnancy.

Half Sack was propped up against the back wall when I made my way back over towards him talking to a brunette with hardly anything on. She gave me a wink when she walked away that I ignored. "Is it always like this?"

"Like what?" He asked looking in the direction the chick had went in. "Loud?"

"No… the women crawling all over."

"Pretty much. We're not patches yet but if they think they have a chance at becoming Old Ladies they'll do whatever it takes."

I could see that. The women were like vulchers, but they cleared out of the way for the few real Old Ladies that were around. "What happened to your girl?" I asked him remembering out of nowhere the girl that had followed him around like a shadow.

"Aw, Cherry weren't no Old Lady. Wanted to be, but she got into some trouble. Had to break it off." Half Sack looked a little peeved remembering it. "I thought about asking Aleah out, she's a cool girl. We talk a lot."

I snorted picturing the hell that would break loose if he did ask her out. Juice would rip his other nut off without thinking twice about it. The guy had a serious hang up on her that he couldn't admit to himself or her. Right now, he had the girl named Molli hanging off of his arm pawing at his chest while she giggled. I hung around until it winded down, heading over to Jessica's place noting that Aleah was out in the parking lot talking to a blonde haired biker I didn't know.

I kicked off on my Bob going to see my grumpy, grouchy, mean girl. I'd purposely left off a bitch seat once I finished the bike altogether. The last thing I needed was my pregnant girlfriend thinking she was hopping on the back. I roared into her apartment complex frowning at all the bums hanging around outside, I'd give Juice this much, he was right when he said it was the shittiest part of Charming. The club kept the crime out, but that didn't mean there weren't bad spots like this.

"I'm here." I called out using my key to let myself in.

The grumpy blonde sat up from her cocoon of blankets and Gizmo on the couch, the little guy was wagging his tail like a maniac. "'bout time. I'm tired of being alone."

Gizmo hopped down running over to rub against my leg as I untied my boots. I'd exchanged the sneakers and flops for more manly apparel on Juice's direction, no more polos and khakis either. "Sorry. I told you there was club stuff going on tonight I couldn't leave from. Aleah was there too."

That didn't appease her. She just frowned harder. "Everyone gets to go have fun but me." She grumbled lifting the pile of blankets up for me to crawl in with her. It was like a freakin meat freezer inside the apartment, she insisted on keeping the thermostat on 65 all day and night reasoning that she was hot but then wrapped herself up like this.

"How's jelly bean today?" I asked rubbing my hand across her belly before pulling her into my chest.

"Sickly. I swear I don't know why I'm getting so damn fat if all I do is puke all day." Jessica sighed slipping her fingers between mine. "I'm ready for it to be over with. I want to work."

She missed her porn studio like crazy. I didn't I kind of liked her being at home all day, knowing where she was at, what she was doing, and paying her bills. The girl came with a lot of debt but nothing I couldn't handle. I didn't have many bills on my own so we could get by off of what I made, it'd just be easier if she'd give in and move with me. "Enjoy it while you can. You tell your parents today?"

I'd never met any of her family. Every time I mentioned it she balked and told me Clay and Gemma were as close to family as she had. I believed it after seeing how she interacted around them, Jax included. Even Lowell would joke around with her. My family didn't know yet, they'd only met the love of my life twice and both times rejected her once she was out of ear shot.

"Yeah." She muttered turning to bury her face under my arm. Good thing I had on extra deodorant. "Mom said they weren't interested in my 'bastard child'.

I felt anger rise in my chest. What a bitch. "My kid ain't no bastard." I interjected angrily. "I haven't ran off have I? I'm still here and I'm planning on sticking around. You don't need them anyways."

"You tell your parents?" Jessica asked her voice muffled into the cotton of my shirt.

"No. I thought we'd do it together this weekend. Mom invited us for brunch." My family were the brunch eating, tennis playing, yuppie type people. My dad had went into a yelling rage when he saw my Prospect cut when I dropped by the day I got it. They'd been upset already that I'd started working for the Sons, even more pissed at how deep I'd gotten into everything. My past was still haunting me as far as my family was concerned.

She groaned wiggling her feet around until her toes were buried underneath my thigh. "I don't want to. They hate me. They think I'm a slut."

"No they don't." I assured her running my fingers through her hair. Actually they did think she was a slut ever since my pain in the ass best friend let it slip that Jessica worked at CaraCara. And it was painfully obvious in Jessica's appearance, she wasn't the secretary. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. We have a new family now anyways. We don't need anyone else."

"Yeah I'm just _so_ happy you decided to join up forces with SAMCRO." Jessica sighed, she didn't want me involved with them anymore than my parents did. She didn't have a bad boy fantasy apparently. "I'm just.. Worried you're going to go down with them."

"Nothin to go down for. Just mechanics and Harley lovers." I chuckled remembering how Clay described us. "Just trust me, I'm doing everything I can to make sure we're good. Let me take care of things for a change."

Jessica nuzzled the crook of my neck no doubt smelling the beer and cigarettes on me. "Don't let me down Carter."

"Never planned on it babe."


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes…. I think I got back to everyone that reviewed, and thanks for making the effort to leave me a few lines letting me know how I was doing with this fic. I haven't been detailing which episode we're in but this obviously happens in season 2 episode one and two. **

**I know Kozik wasn't actually there, but I needed him to be there for something later on in the story. :D and who doesn't like Koz?**

**Credits to Jessica of course. **

I do not own SOA

Chapter 18 Sleepless in Charming

Nights of sleeping next to Juice without anything other than cuddling and sleeping was the most agonizing thing in the world. He hadn't made a single move to show me he wanted to do anything more than whisper and hug me while we were in bed. I purposely went to see Logan at his place, that way I could avoid the awkwardness if Juice showed up while Logan was over. I was cheating but not cheating at the same time. I wasn't sure if spooning with your ex counted as cheating since there technically was nothing going on.

Juice was a good bed partner sometimes, as long as he went straight to sleep. If he didn't, he was up until the early morning winding down when his ADD allowed it before passing out into a deep, snoring sleep in my ear. I dealt with the snoring with the compromise of having his arms around me while we slept. We hadn't even reached the minimal clothing stage yet, Juice usually slept in whatever he showed up in and I slept in my highly unsexy fuzzy pajama bottoms and old shirts.

Jessica wasn't a happy camper with our overnight guest but didn't say much about it to my face. Carter slept over a lot too so it was kind of hypocritical if she complained. She complained over everything lately. I felt bad for poor Carter, trying to work, prospect, and take care of her. The minute I got home I tried to take off to my room especially if Juice had met me there. I didn't even know his weekly burner number to call if I needed to get in touch with him. He didn't offer it to me, so I didn't ask for it. Trying to keep things on a laid back, friend level.

"Hey… you okay?" Half Sack asked breaking through my thoughts of just climbing onto to Juice one night while he was asleep.

"What? Oh yeah… Yeah I'm great." I forced a grin at the lanky Prospect. "Aren't you supposed to be going to get checked out for your uh… procedure?"

Half Sack blushed deep crimson like he did anytime I mentioned his nuticle. "Later.. We just got back, thought I'd see if you needed any help around here."

I shrugged looking out at the cars we had lined up. The regular mechanics were proving their worth lately, the club had been taking off a lot to handle things leaving Carter in charge for the most part at the garage. "Nah I think we're good. You guys have a good time?"

I knew they'd been up at the crack dawn to go do something. Juice had rolled of my bed around 6am to take off, mumbling that he'd see me later. Then he left, no hug, no kiss, no nothing to show he'd ever been there except for the scent of body wash on my sheets. It was enough to make me go mad. Thank God I had Logan for what I was shamefully craving from Juice after swearing I'd never go down that road again.

"Yep." He grinned at me not letting on to whatever they'd been up to. He was a loyal guy, knew when to keep his mouth shut. "I'm gonna… go get things ready for tonight."

I nodded watching him walk off through the lot to the clubhouse. Things would be crazy around here tonight. Bobby was getting out of the slammer after weeks of being stuck in there, and Opie was supposed to be back sometime today. I missed the overgrown gnome even though I hadn't saw him but a few times since he got out of Chino. Bobby's muffins and bread were really missed around here. Now that I was a tater tot again, I craved sweets like crazy and they were going straight to my ass.

I grabbed my phone sending a quick message to Logan saying I was at the garage if he wanted to bring lunch by in a bit then headed out for a little walk around the garage. I was watching Carter fix an exhaust when Opie rumbled in with Jax beside him. I frowned when I saw the hard, cold look on Opie's face even when he nodded to me. He gave the guys all loose hugs before they disappeared into the clubhouse for chapel no doubt. By the time Logan got back a few of them had taken off, leaving a Juice, Dad, and Piney behind with Half Sack.

Logan pulled into the lot carrying a sack that looked like it held our lunch, drinks in his hands. "Hey sweetie." He grinned leaning down to give me a kiss.

I smiled up at him kissing him back, taking the bag and dropping it on the couch. "How long do you have?" I whispered in his ear biting down on his ear lobe.

Logan smirked pushing my hair back behind my ear, kissing my neck. "As long as we need."

I kicked the office door shut, it was the universal sign for don't come in. "C'mon. I've missed you." I sat back on top of the desk, shoving everything out of the way to pull him between my legs. I had on a pair of jeans so worn that the back pockets had little holes on the corners and a plain blue and black plaid shirt. Very casual and very in the way for what I wanted to happen.

Logan pushed me back sucking on my skin in little intervals between licking the curve of my neck. "You sure you want to do this here?"

"Yes.. God yes.. Just.. Undo your pants." I moaned not wanting to risk taking the time for foreplay. I stood up pushing my own jeans down along with the cheeky boy shorts I had on and leaned over the desk.

I could hear him fumbling around in his pants for a minute before he was behind me, arms wrapped around my middle as he pushed into me. I shut my eyes as he started rocking at a slow pace. Logan was a hard, slow guy when it came to sex more so than the quick fuck I was wanting. "Harder… hurry."

A knock sounded on the metal door but I bucked back against him showing him to keep going. "Hold on… I'm busy!" I yelled out trying not to moan it out when Logan finally hit the right spot. He wasn't clumsy, he wasn't bad at sex, I just wanted… more.

"Busy with what?" The door flung open to my horror. I froze instantly, Logan did too and I felt my blood run cold at the person that was standing there looking like he wanted to rip us both into pieces with a Happy aura.

Juice grabbed Logan by the collar of his shirt tossing him against the wall, more like slamming actually. "What the fuck do you think you're doing you little shit?"

Logan grabbed his pants, trying to cover himself but didn't make it in time before Juice veered back kicking him hard in the stomach. "Dude… what the hell… She's my girlfriend. Why're you so pissed?"

"Aleah get fucking dressed and get out of my sight." Juice snapped at me, I was already buttoning my jeans up when he glared at me.

He grabbed Logan up again shoving him out of the office. "Get the fuck out of here before I do something way worse than this to you."

Logan didn't argue with him. It kind of let me down that he was letting someone he didn't even know boss him around on what to do with me. Like he was a… wimp. Incapable of protecting himself or me. Juice came back into the doorway, his body blocking the light from coming in. A few of the guys had gathered around, trying to see what had happened.

"Don't ever let me see that shit again." He growled before taking off not giving me the chance to say anything back to him.

I sank down into the desk chair processing what in the hell had just happened. I'd walked in on Juice fucking Mia and didn't do shit but slam the door. Juice saw me fucking Logan and snapped like a mad man. He made it clear nothing was happening with us like that, so what as the problem?

"What happened to Logan?" Carter asked coming inside and sitting down beside the forgotten bag of food. "I saw him hightailing it for the car."

Talk about uncomfortable. Logan was Carter's best friend outside of the MC. Juice was Carter's other best friend as far the MC went. They were close, really close. "Ummm. I don't know." I sighed grabbing the empty condom wrapper off the desk before anyone else came in.

"Should I be worried about Logan's condition or about what Juice might do to you?" He raised an eyebrow at the panicked expression on my face.

"We were…. You know… and Juice busted in, grabbed him, beat the shit out of him, then he took off." It sounded crazier saying it aloud to someone.

Carter looked outside where Chibs and Juice were talking, smoking, and peering in at me. "I see. " He stood back up ruffling his black hair with a sign. "Well… shit…"

"I know.. Shit."

"Look, I haven't said shit to Logan about… whatever's been going on with you and the idiot out there. I know who I have to be loyal to but Logan's still my friend. Someone's going to end up hurt. Bad."

I nodded feeling a little bit ashamed at being reprimanded by Carter of all people. He was the resident teddy bear, the nice guy and now he was pretty much telling me I needed to leave his friend alone. "I know. I'll fix it."

"I gotta get back to work, I gotta finish these cars up before everyone gets here." Carter took off back out of the door leaving me to my thoughts.

I stayed shut up in the garage except for when Mom came out of the clubhouse pushing Abel in his stroller to take back to Jax's place. The little guy had went for his last round of testing this morning and was declared healthy by Tara. After they'd left I retreated back inside until it started getting dark outside, the roaring of bikes was loud, someone pulling in every few minutes in anticipation of Bobby getting here.

"You staying for the party?" Half Sack asked me coming to tell me that the garage was shut up for the night.

I hit the button on the monitor, glancing around to make sure everything was picked up for Mom to come in the next day. "I don't know. I don't usually hang around up here unless I'm invited."

"Aww come on. I'm inviting you. Its going to be huge." Half Sack gave me a pleading look. "You know you want to. Where else can you drink for free and underage?"

He had a good point there. I could use a good stiff drink after the day I had. Alcohol was as far as I was going to push it anymore. "You convinced me. Come on , you can walk me over." I grabbed my bag hitting the lights off before I shut the door behind me.

The party was already hitting on when we walked over to the clubhouse. Carter was sitting at the bar instead of standing behind it laughing with a crow eater when we walked in. The guys were mostly out in the parking lot drinking around the fire pit with the grill going. I nodded to Dad when I walked by where he was at in deep conversation with Tig. He gave me a questioning look that I just shrugged in response to. I followed Half Sack into the clubhouse, Opie was sitting at the bar with a shot glass in front of him.

"Hey Ope." I touched his shoulder gently sliding to sit down beside him.

He looked at me blankly at first then raised his glass in my direction. "Didn't figure to see you here kid."

"I'm not a kid anymore." I reminded him knowing I was a little girl when he'd went in and now it was still hard for him to wrap around me being grown. "How you doing?"

"Fine." He said abruptly shutting me out of whatever he was feeling. "What about you? Heard there was a scuffle over your honor earlier."

I snorted remembering for the hundredth time how Juice had grabbed a hold of Logan. "I don't know so much about my honor….. But there was a scuffle. I don't even know why."

Opie didn't speak while he poured himself another shot. Once he'd downed it he looked at me with his large, sad eyes. "Don't let it pass you by." he said before he stood up.

I watched him leave, taking to heart what he'd said. Don't let it pass you by meaning, don't waste time being pissed at Juice for the past if that's what I wanted. If I didn't, I needed to make sure he knew that and be with Logan. Logan was the choice most girls would grab up, Juice was… trouble. It'd never be easy with him. I knew Logan wanted to be with me, it'd be easier to be with him. I had no idea what was going through Juice's tattooed head, he didn't act like a guy that wanted a girlfriend. He was talking with the crow eater named Michelle right now making motions with his hand. His eyes would cut over to me every now and then but he didn't show any signs of coming over, or wanting to talk to me.

I grabbed a beer the lady at the bar offered out to me and wandered outside seeing if I knew anyone that was around. "What are you doing here so late Lee?" Dad asked motioning me over to his table.

"Half Sack talked me into it. I'll probably go soon, I have work and school tomorrow." I sat down on top of the table beside him. "Mom said she was going to Jax's with the baby."

He nodded taking out a stogie to puff on while we waited for Bobby. "Yeah well, he needs to learn to do shit on his own at some point."

Things had been rough in the family since Donna died but that was putting it nicely when it came to Dad and Jax lately. They were venomous to each other, arguing all the time, and Jax acted like he had a huge chip on his shoulder. But Dad was right, Jax did need to step up his game a little bit more as a parent. "I know. He'll learn." I assured him patting his free hand. "Don't worry I'm not here to pick up dates."

"Better not be. You already caused one damn fight around here today."

I nodded starting to speak when an expensive, black car loomed into the lot in front of us. "Who's that?"

"Get over by Carter and Sack or go inside." Dad ordered rising from the table to walk towards the men that filed out of the vehicle, the MC flanking around him.

I cowered behind Carter listening in as the man tried to rattle Dad with his race talk. Some arrogant racist prick trying to get in SAMCRO's business. I stayed where I was at long after the guys left until the government vehicle pulled up with Bobby clambering out as fast as he could to run into the crowd of his brothers cheering.

"Welcome back!" Was shouted from all different angles, everyone rushing to hug Bobby, hand him a drink.

Bobby had lost a tiny smidge of weight in jail, his hair wasn't anything like Elvis's but the crow eaters were digging him. He had one on each arm minutes after he arrived. I tossed my beer bottle in the trash snagging another one from one of the coolers sitting out and headed towards the clubhouse to go tell Bobby hi before I left. It was getting late for me to be out especially since I was having a few drinks. Last thing I needed was a damn DUI.

"Hey little girl." A smooth deep voice sounded when I walked past the row of bikes neatly parked together.

I turned my head to see who it was when the voice didn't register with me. Even in the shadows I could make out the blonde haired, lanky, biker. "What are you doing here? The party's in there." I grinned going closer to him not feeling uneasy at all.

"Just got here. What are _**you**_doing out here wandering around alone?" Kozik asked dragging on the cigarette dangling between his long fingers.

I shrugged standing beside him sipping on my beer, he smirked watching me. "Same as you. Came for a party. A few drinks. Maybe a hook up later on." I joked knowing the only person sleeping in my bed tonight would be Gizmo.

"Hook up huh? Thought you were an Old Lady by now." He chuckled tossing the cigarette butt behind him. Gemma would kill him if she saw that I thought to myself.

"Okay maybe not the hook up. Definitely the drinks though." I held up my beer grinning. "No one even heard you pull in. Or mentioned Tacoma coming by."

He pulled the beer from my hand taking a long drag from it, keeping it in his grip. "You're too young to be drinking." he shifted so that he was sitting sideways on his bike. "I didn't tell anyone I was coming by tonight. Just got done taking care of some family business over in Sacramento, thought I'd swing in for a warm bed and a hot girl." He downed the rest of the beer. "Looks like I got a warm beer and a lukewarm girl instead."

I rolled my eyes at him knowing he was joking with me from the tone of his voice. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Old Man." I tossed him a look, really looking at the man beside for the first time. When I'd been introduced to him months ago, I didn't pay him much attention. I was with Juice and high off my ass then. Now, I was noticing Kozik wasn't a bad looking man. He was completely out of my age range, but he seemed like a decent enough person even though he was wearing an 'unholy ones' patch that should have terrified me like it did with Happy.

"Doesn't take much to be an Old Man compared to a high schooler." He laughed finally standing up and stretching out his long legs. "You wanna grab another drink with me? I'll get you a chocolate milk or something."

"Chocolate milk? Seriously?" I huffed at him turning to walk with him back over to the party. Carter passed us by giving me a harder look than I thought possible from him.

Koz paused dropping his glasses onto the handlebars. Just long enough for me to see who was walking towards the row of bikes with a slight drawl to his step. "There's your boy." Koz whispered.

"He is not." I whispered back wondering why I felt so guilty standing here with a man I barely even knew all of a sudden.

Juice grabbed his helmet from the spot it was hanging on and clipped it on. "You comin with me?" he asked point blank not beating around the bush about it.

I glanced up at Kozik who was fighting back a laugh as he backed away giving Juice a clap on the back before leaving us alone. "Umm… yeah. My place?" I asked him awkwardly. I'd told Mom I'd call her if I'd been drinking, or left before she got there but opportunity to find out what was going on was staring me in the face.

"Yeah. I'll follow you over."

And we were off. I drove slowly, making sure I paid attention to my surroundings until we pulled in with Juice rolling to a stop between my car and Jessica's. I let him lead me up the stairs in silence, unlocked the door happy to see that Jessica was either in her room asleep or at Carter's.

"I'm gonna… grab a shower." I told him once we were in my room. "The remotes on top of the bed. I'll be right back."

Juice nodded getting himself comfortable while I hurriedly showered, partly scared he'd take off or fall asleep before we had a chance to talk this crazy day out. I dressed quickly, leaving my hair wet when I padded into my room after pausing outside of Jessica's door. Her and Carter were both certainly at home. I shut my own door, locking it just for good measure before sliding into the bed where Juice waited patiently, the TV was on but he had it on mute just looking at me. I noticed he'd slipped his shirt off for the first time, it was laying on the back of my desk chair with his cut. I laid down on my side facing him, waiting to see what he'd say before I could put my foot in my mouth.

"You like that douche bag paper pusher?" Juice asked in a soft voice rolling on his side too.

"Logan's…. Okay." I whispered wondering where he was going with this.

"You love him?" He asked next no emotion on his tanned face, he slid his hand up to touch my cheek, all the rings were removed.

I shook my head no looking back into his eyes. "No. I don't."

"You mad at me for what I did?"

To answer him I slid closer across the cool sheets, curling my body against his. He'd taken his Dickies off too I realized, laying there in nothing but his boxers. "Good. I didn't want you to be. I just… don't like seeing you like that. Not with him." Juice wrapped an arm over me. His skin felt warm and comforting against me. "I'm sorry."

"Juice…what are we doing here? Am I breaking up with Logan for this? To sleep in the same bed every night?" I asked him on an impulse.

The Puerto Rican that was laying with me didn't seem to have an answer for that. He opened his mouth up a few times with no words coming out before he sighed loudly. "I don't know what this is. I don't like being alone. But I don't want things to be like they were again. We were both miserable together."

Closing my eyes I dared to lay my head down on his chest with a hand resting on the hard ab muscles below. I didn't have a reply for that. We really had been miserable to the point of it becoming a toxic combination for us to be alone together for any amount of time. I was almost asleep when he shifted beside me. I felt his lips just barely brush across mine before he whispered. "Night baby."

It amazed me, how just a quick brush, not even a real kiss made me feel like this. Like I could burst from the butterflies trying to escape. Sleep was the last thing on my mind now. "Good night…. Carlos." I whispered back daring to make the move and press my lips against his. God… they were still as soft as I remembered them. He didn't kiss back right away but then after a pause he did. It was sweet, slow, not demanding or hard. Just a simple joining of lips for a few seconds before we pulled apart.

Juice's POV

Someone's phone was ringing. Loudly. I groaned not wanting to move Aleah. She was wrapped around me, a leg slung across my hips. Every now and then her fingers twitched while she rubbed my bare stomach. I'd been iffy on the appropriateness of sleeping shirtless and in my boxers but decided I was over the 'slept in' look every day when I left to go to the clubhouse.

I fumbled for my phone, frowning when I realized it wasn't mine. "Aleah." I rubbed her shoulder, it was freezing. The whole apartment was freezing. She mumbled tucking her head deeper into the crook of my arm. "Lee." I tried again the phone had stopped ringing for a moment then started up again. "Aleah." I thumped her on the ass knowing that'd get her attention.

"What do you want? Answer your phone." She growled in her angry sleep state.

"Its your phone. I guess I can answer it… if you want me to." I knew she wouldn't want me to. She sat up slowly taking the phone from me. It said Mom across it. I laid back across the pillows just when she hit the talk button, my phone started ringing. _What the hell _I wondered grabbing it.

I crawled out of the bed moving away from her so whoever we were both talking to couldn't overhear the other one. I liked having my little secret sleepovers. I wanted to keep them that way until I knew what I was trying to do here. "Yeah?"

"Gemma had an accident. Get over to the hospital with everyone in 20." Tig told me before hanging up just as fast.

Aleah was off the phone grabbing for clothes in a rush that let me know whoever called her, had already told her. "I have to go. Mom-"

"Had an accident. I know. I gotta go there too."

Aleah's POV

I felt awful for my mom, seeing her like this. Her face was so beat up and swollen I couldn't understand how she managed to give me a small smile when I slipped into her room. "Mom, what happened?" I asked gently sitting down in the chair beside the bed.

"An accident." She said weakly and I almost believed her. If she wouldn't have looked away so fast, I would have. After years of living with Gemma Teller , I could semi tell when she was lying about something.

"No Mom.. What really happened?" I sighed touching her knee to show some support. "Please."

She shook her head avoiding looking back at me again. I thought I heard a small sob escaped her when she put her head in her hands. "I can't Aleah."

I got up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging as tightly as I dared to. "Mom, I'm worried. I know it wasn't a car accident." I'd snooped around enough to know she hadn't really been admitted. Tara had somehow gotten her in here.

"You can't tell anyone." Mom croaked out hoarsely finally looking up at me again. I rubbed her shoulder nodding. "I mean Aleah, no one. Not your Dad. Jax. Jessica. Anyone."

"I won't. You have my word." I promised her listening as she started to spill the details of what happened little by little. I lifted my hand to cover my mouth in the horror of what those animals had done to my mother. I hugged as tightly as I dared with her injuries crying with her. "Oh god… I'm so sorry Mom."

"I'll be okay. But you can't tell anyone. I mean it."

I nodded hugging her again when Tara came back into the room giving us a knowing look, letting me know she knew too, what had happened last night. I felt angry at myself, if I'd called her like I was supposed to she wouldn't have been over there. I was angry at Jax for not already being at home to take care of his own baby. But I was mostly sad for my Mom. I hung around with her as long as I could before I had to go change and come straight back for work. I was a few hours into my shift when I saw Logan sitting in his usual chair outside the nursery, looking like he could have been one of the anxious fathers that usually crowded the area.

I slid my pen in my pocket, flattening the clipboard against my chest when I walked over to him. "Hi." I said quietly, feeling uncomfortable but ready to get this over with.

"Hi." Logan smiled back, unsure too I realized when he stood up from the plastic covered chair. "I thought maybe we could talk?"

"Yeah. We should. I'll let them know I'm taking a break and we can go grab some coffee or something downstairs."

After telling Susan I'd be back ,I went over meeting Logan in the hallway standing with his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark wash jeans, a rumpled shirt replaced his normal neat appearance of a polo or button down. I gave him a shy smile before pulling his hand out of his left pocket to slip my fingers between his longer, soft ones. "I meant to call you, but things have been crazy. Mom had an accident, then stuff happened around the garage."

"I figured. I called a couple of times and left messages. Carter told me about your mom though, so I thought I'd just stop by and see what was happening here." Logan sighed looking tired. He was usually a pretty attractive guy, but now I was really seeing his potential. He'd never be the angry, volatile biker like Juice was, never be able to throw punches or protect me the same way he could. But he could love me like Juice said he couldn't.

"I'm sorry about that. Really. He…. He's… my ex." I explained glancing up at him beside me while we walked the corridor. "And he has a jealous streak."

Logan sucked in a deep breath that he let out slowly. "You didn't tell me your ex that screwed you over was a Son Aleah."

I squeezed his hand tightly. "Would it have changed things? Carter's almost a Son now." I threw that in knowing that Carter was taking a lot of heat from his friends and family over his recent decisions. Even Jessica was pissed with him over wanting that leather on his back.

"I don't know. I was scared to even get involved with someone from that…. Area. But I like you, a lot. And I'm not ready for this to end yet."

We stopped in the corner of the mostly empty cafeteria, still away from everyone else, staring at each other. I wanted Juice, wanted him back bad. But I didn't know if that would happen and I wanted someone, something more than a bed partner. And I was suddenly ashamed I'd even let that happen. "Me either."

"How about from now on I don't come by the garage? I'll just meet you after." He smiled for the first time since he got there, his eyes shining a little bit.

"I think that sounds like a good idea."

Juice's POV

Beating the hell out of Georgie's guys felt great. I took all of my frustration out on the dickwad I was hitting with my baseball bat until Jax called us off. Bastards had broken Lyla's nose. I didn't know her too good, but I knew no one deserved that over doing a porn for a different company. I was back at the clubhouse now, sitting at the bar in front of Half Sack with Happy on my side, both of us drinking in silence.

I tapped my knuckles on the counter signaling Half Sack back over with the bottle of Smirnoff. He started to pour me another shot but I grabbed the bottle instead giving him a look that made him let go of it like it sprouted a set of fangs. I gulped from the bottle not even wincing at the burning that went down my throat. Happy was throwing back beers like he was a man left in a desert. Yep, drinking in silence with Happy beat the hell out of going to my empty house.

The house that was literally pretty much empty now that I'd moved into SAMCRO corner. I was still on the outer edge, but I took what I could get. A three bedroom, two bath split level that I was paying out the ass for but could call my own when I got done. It needed a few things done here and there, but nothing I couldn't do or couldn't get Carter to explain to me. I sipped on the bottle again turning my head to the sound of girlish laughter when the clubhouse doors opened up letting in a few crow eaters.

It was late. Past 11 already. I couldn't drive anywhere, so I knew even if I ignored the voice in the back of my mind, I couldn't make it to Aleah's to sleep. But I could find a replacement. I studied the women seeing if I knew any of them personally. Happy was looking too, seizing them up. "Which one do you want?" He asked in his deep raspy voice shocking me. He seemed the type to grab whatever and go with it.

"Dark haired one I think. She's a good girl." I nodded in Mia's direction. She was playing pool with two blondes laughing at something stupid that came out of Tig's mouth.

"Works for me." He threw back the rest of the beer before he got up to get his own date for the night.

I stayed where I was a while longer, finishing off the rest of the liter of vodka in my hand. I was fucked up. I was slurring when I talked, stumbling, and laughing a little too much. I staggered over to Mia giving her a look and tilting my head to the side to the hallway where my room was. She nodded setting her pool stick down to follow me to the room a little too enthusiastically. She was pretty hot. Curvy, long black hair, not too much make up or skin showing. Young. Not all used up and hard like some of the others were. I kicked the door shut behind me, locking it then wordlessly started undressing.

Mia took my lead, undressing herself before sliding into my freshly washed sheets thanks to Gemma then stared me down as I got in beside her. I didn't kiss her, touch her sexually, or anything like that. I just wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my chest, cradling her like I would have done Aleah. "Go to sleep." I mumbled to her in my thick, drunken voice.

"I thought you wanted…"

"No. Sleep." I shut my eyes, glad I'd drank myself into being able to pass out so easily.


	21. Chapter 21

**Big thanks to Bethie and Tiana for always reviewing each chapter, it means a lot you guys are still reviewing for me. **

**This is a pretty good chapter in my opinion, I think you'll all be pleased. **

**We are in Season two still, I think you'll all be able to tell which episodes everything takes place in. If I don't detail something straight from the epi its because I don't have a way for Aleah to be directly involved in it. I don't want to rewrite scenes from each episode, so I'm trying to show you what she's doing off the screen stuff. **

**Thanks and credits to Jessica1018 :D:D **

Chapter 20 Love is Strange

Everyone was fighting with everyone. I stayed as far away from the garage, clubhouse, and Dad's place as I could get. Dad and Jax were at the point of screaming at each other in public places, Mom and Dad apparently weren't sleeping in the same bed for the past three weeks according to what she told me when I did finally have to go by the garage for a few hours of work on my usual Wednesday. Everything was falling apart.

Juice hadn't called, text, or came by in right at three weeks. It was like he'd decided to just go back to avoiding me again. Which only made me feel better about deciding to patch things up with Logan. And that was going pretty damn good. I spent most of my nights at his place now, just in case Juice actually did decide to show up so there wasn't another uncomfortable confrontation. Everything was just…. Going. Moving along. Except for Mom. I was starting to get worried about her. She was on the edge of sanity.

I slammed the file cabinet drawer shut shaking my head as Mom took off in the Escalade Dad bought her to appease the loss of her car, with Dad chasing after her, Tig chasing him. This place was turning into a three ring circus. I smirked seeing Juice and Chibs walking towards the office. The clowns were even here now. "Morning."

"Morning lovely." Chibs grinned at me getting himself a cup of coffee. "Any chance of some creamer around here?"

I shook my head moving another stack of files around to put away. This place was a mess, I was trying to get it cleaned up and organized before Jessica started this weekend. I couldn't work both jobs anymore, the hospital paid more than the garage did, and Jess needed to do something with herself so it worked out perfectly. "Nope. Opie used the rest of it before him and Sack went on the repo run out to the mill."

The Scotsman cursed going to the clubhouse with his steaming cup of coffee, leaving me alone awkwardly with Juice who was shuffling around nervously. I let my eyes sneak a peek at him when he looked out at the garage. He looked tired, like he hadn't been sleeping that well, his body was slightly thicker than it was before, but then again so was mine. I'd gained yet another pants size since I kicked the coke habit. Days like today were the hardest for me, the days I had a lot to get done and craved that energy boost.

"How've you been?" Juice finally asked toying with one of the heavy rings he wore.

I pulled open the top cabinet drawer, sliding in a few files. "Good. Just getting things picked up around here. Jess is taking over Saturday you know."

He frowned, little lines wrinkling his forehead. "I didn't know you were quitting."

"Yep. Jess needs the money, and I make more at the hospital. Dad said he'd still help me out with the car as long as I working somewhere and still going to school. And staying clean of course." I shoved the drawer shut, going for the bottom one next.

"You look good." he blurted out, sounding like he didn't mean to. "Like… you've always looked good but…. You look… better this way."

I wasn't sure if I should be offended of complimented. "I look better fat, wearing too tight clothes than skinny and wearing decent fitting ones?"

Juice rolled his eyes, giving me an aggravated look, his jaw tight. "No. You look… curvier. More….than a straight line."

I pushed my hair behind my ears, feeling very self conscious standing here in my jeans and Nirvana shirt suddenly. "Well thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

"So… what are you doing tonight?"

The question shocked me, I wasn't expecting to be asked that after three weeks of no contact after sharing a bed for two weeks straight. I got my shock, getting my thoughts back together quickly. "Umm.. I'm going out on a date. With Logan."

His face soured instantly, irritation filled his eyes. "So you're quitting TM, going out on a date, and working 40hours in the nursery." He stated it more than asked.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I sighed not knowing where this talk was going to, or what he wanted out of it.

"Just wondering where I fit in." He whispered looked dejected now, wearing his kicked puppy face reminding me just how sweet of a man he really was underneath the tough guy act he tried to use.

I crossed my arms over myself, preparing to finally have it out with him. I was over the poor Juice act. "Where do you want to fit in? And what do you want from me?"

"I just thought…. Never mind. I gotta go get ready for tonight. We're having a wrap party at CaraCara. Have fun on your date." Juice turned and walked out, almost at a jog in his hurry to get away from me.

I frowned slamming the rest of the files down on the desktop. What in the hell was up with him?

Juice's POV

Partying at CaraCara was alright by me. The girls were hot, the liquor endless, and they were playing my kind of music. I sat down at the bar downing drinks with ease laughing it up with the blonde beside me. She was halfway in my lap, whispering in my ear. Half of it I couldn't even hear over the loud music and shrill laughs.

"Hittin 'em kinda hard aren't you?" Bobby asked coming to get his own refill. Only downside to this place was that there were no real crow eaters to wait on us.

"Nope. Not hard enough." I said back hitting my glass on the bar for another Jack and Coke. "I gotta say man, I love this business venture a lot more than our others."

I was a constant visitor at the studio, watching the filming, irritating Luann, checking out the girls, and using my favorite excuse of updating her servers. Hell we all loved it. Who didn't love pussy?

Bobby grabbed his beer bottle from the pretty redhead on the other side giving her a wink. "Gotta unwind from that crazy shit somehow. Find you a girl bro, take her home for the night. Get some sleep." He clapped me on the back, walking off.

Crazy shit seemed to happen everyday lately. Today's crazy shit was us beating the shit out of a dealer, then blowing up the cookers house before the party. Now we were partying like we were innocent porn producers. As far as finding a girl, the girl I had hoped to take home with me tonight had a date with her douche bag boyfriend. I groaned inwardly remembering the awkwardness of that conversation. I needed to get a grip over this shit. But every time I thought I was okay, all it took was a whiff of her shampoo and I was back to being a mess.

Jessica was here with Carter, or him with her, I wasn't sure who invited who to come party with porn stars this time. She fit in great if it wasn't for the obvious basketball under her shirt that he kept rubbing. _Stupid whore _I thought to myself knowing it was probably just the alcohol making me so moody. I stood up, bracing myself a little bit with the chair I'd been sitting on, deciding if I was ready to go yet or not.

"You leavin me handsome?" Blondie purred rubbing my chest through the thin cotton of my shirt.

"Mmmm…. I don't know." I looked down at her. She was alright, big tits, nice ass and okay face. I wanted brunette, decent sized tits, great ass, and beautiful face. "Maybe you…." I stopped talking seeing who Jessica was gushing to on the left of her and fought back a laugh. What in the hell was Aleah doing here? "Yeah I'm leavin you." I shoved her hands away going to see what I could stir up.

Aleah was way over dressed for the party. Too covered. But I liked that, it distinguished her from looking like a slut like the rest of the women here did besides Tara. She was rocking her hips a little with the music doing some kind of a little sway with Carter while Jess talked to Luann now. I couldn't help but grin at the sight of the huge Prospect dancing with her. I slipped through the throngs of people until I slid right between them, cutting in without asking. "I'm cutting in." I told Carter who just nodded knowing even if he objected, I was the patch here.

"You here to rattle me some more?" Aleah asked staring at me, not moving anymore.

She was angry with me, I realized feeling a sinking motion in my stomach that had nothing to do with the whiskey. "No. I was just coming to see how your date went." I flashed a grin at her trying to get her to at least smile at me a little bit. "Or is paper boy here with you?"

Aleah studied me harshly underneath her eyelashes, her body tense. "It was nice, thanks for asking. He went home, he's not feeling very well."

"You wanna…. Go talk?" I'd moved closer to her, close enough to feel her hair tickle my face when I leaned down to talk into her ear so no one could over hear us.

"I don't think so."

I sighed loudly, I could see Carter watching me, making sure I was being nice. "Look…. Just.. Come to the clubhouse for a while. Please?"

Aleah chewed on her bottom lip, appraising me before giving me a quick nod. "I'll follow you there. I drove my car over."

I'd take that. I probably shouldn't have a passenger anyways given my current state of drunkeness. I set my glass down on the tiny table, wanting to hurry before she changed her mind, and led her out of the warehouse. It was a short ride over to TM, even with me driving slower than normal just to make sure I didn't lay the bike down. It was completely empty too, meaning we had total privacy for the first time in way too long.

She didn't speak to me until I shut the door to my room, locking it behind me. "Are you… living here or something?" She kicked my duffle bag with her foot.

"Something." I smirked kicking off my boots and crashing down on the bed. "Come here."

Aleah eyed my warily before sitting down beside me, not laying like I wished she would have. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Why are you back with him?" I asked not able to stop myself. "I thought that was over a while back."

"We never broke up." She said softly shifting around to get comfortable, but still not touching me or showing any signs of laying with me like I really really wished she would. "I like him. I told you that last time."

I didn't like hearing that. My stomach twisted in knots as I digested her words. "Aleah….." it came out sounding like more a whine than a name. "Why are you being like this?"

"You're drunk Juice. Go to sleep." Aleah stood up the springs creaking underneath us. "You don't want me. You told me that, then you disappeared for almost a month after you…. We.." She shook her head. "I'm done playing games with you."

I shut my eyes, hearing her words roll through my ears. Accusing but not at the same time. "I'm not playing games."

"Yeah you are. I'm sorry about whatever's wrong with you but I'm not… cheating anymore on him by sleeping with you again. I'm sorry."

A knife slice through my chest, hearing that hurt me more than anything she'd ever said to me before. "Don't…. " I sighed sitting up again, the room spinning a little with the motion. "Don't be sorry for me. I just thought… you were done with him."

"Maybe I was. Until you ditched out on me again. The only thing you seem to be good at."

Wow. My girl had never been so cruel. "I didn't ditch out on you. I… shit Aleah… I don't…." I trailed off not even knowing how to express the millions of thoughts going through my Ritalin dependent brain at once.

Slowly, I touched her hair, her body froze, breathing slow deep breaths as my fingers brushed her cheek before I kissed her. I could still taste the vodka on her lips, cherry lip gloss, and man… the softness. She started to unravel bit by bit, leaning more and more into me while we kissed. Her lips were pushing on mine hungrily almost, like she'd missed mine just as much as I missed hers. I cupped her head holding her still, pushing my tongue against her mouth until she parted her lips letting me in.

I smiled a little when I felt her hands starting to grope my back, pressing on the muscles pushing me closer against her. I let my hands slide down from her hair to her shirt, pushing it over her head, then leaned back long enough to slip my own off. "Take your pants off." Aleah whispered pushing me back and lifting her hips to shimmy out of hers, kicking them to the side of the bed.

In a flash I was back on top of her, not wanting to waste a moment of this. This was way better than anything I had dreamed up in my intoxicated state of mind. I kissed her neck roughly, loving the way she tensed, pushing her hips against mine. "Fuckkk… Don't do that." I hissed knowing it wouldn't take much more than her grinding on me.

"Get a condom. Hurry."

That's all she had to say. I leaned over her grabbing a Trojan off the roll I kept in my nightstand for the rare occasion I wanted Mia to do something other than sleep with me. I rolled it on quickly, pushing into her hard. "Ohhh….. Oh.. My god…" Aleah whimpered her eyes closing when I started to thrust into her.

"God…. I missed this…" I muttered letting my eyes shut too, the pleasure from how tight she was taking me over.

I started to push her down into the mattress when her hands flew to my chest shoving me back. "_Stop_! Stop stop stop!" She shouted suddenly.

I jerked back letting go of her quickly. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to?" She shoved me again, this time hard enough to push me out of her. "Shit…" I was in agony, leaned over with my hands on my knees. Aleah was rolling off of the bed like I'd tried to murder her.

A knock sounded on the opposite side of the door. "Everything ok in there?"

"Yeah Bobby. We're fine. Just…. We're fine.!" I yelled back studying the girl that was frantically straightening out her clothes, patting down her hair then grabbing her keys off my computer desk. "Wait… you're leaving? I'm sorry… I didn't mean to push anything."

"You're fine. Its me. I can't do this. I'm sorry Juice. I can't cheat on him like that." Aleah gave me a sad smile her hand on the door knob. "It'll get easier, I swear. I just… can't." Then she left me.

I sat there alone in my room for the longest time, long past the guys that stayed here coming and going to sleep before the blood drive run tomorrow. I wasn't going on it, I had to do some work on the CaraCara website memberships. I stayed awake with my bottle of Jack, drinking and thinking. Thinking and drinking. Was I that awful to her that she would freak out like that? Could I even fix this? Did she want me to fix this? Hell, did I want to fix it or was I just horny as fuck and lonely tonight?

I loved her. I loved her so much I couldn't even function anymore without being near her. I didn't want to do anything but drink to forget her now. Forget how bad I fucked up when I told her to see what else was out there. That kept haunting me every time I tried to talk to her about getting back together. Now she was with Logan the paper boy. I rubbed my hand over the coarse strip of hair I had, thinking some more. I didn't even notice when the sun came up, shining brightly in through my blinds, the guys roaring out of the parking lot with the Nomads, and a few Tacoma guys behind them.

Aleah's POV

I hurried up the stairs to the apartment my feet barely touching the stairs as I ran up them. The door was already unlocked when I turned the knob. "Jess?" I called out worriedly scanning the living room for her.

"We're in here!" Carter yelled to me from her room, down the hall.

I rushed inside, not even stopping to knock. "Are you okay?" I asked her my eyebrows scrunching together. "I'm so sorry!"

Jessica was laid back in her bed, a pillow propped up underneath her left foot that had a boot on it. She'd left me 6 voicemails this morning telling me she'd fallen down the stairs trying to take Gizmo outside when he'd tripped her and ran away. "I'm fine. Just a little banged up. Lee, I'm sorry about Giz."

She really did look sorry, like she wanted to cry. I sat down on the edge of her, holding her hand. "Its fine, really. He'll turn up soon. I was so worried about you and the baby."

Carter passed Jessica a glass of water and two pills his jaw held tight. "We all were. I got here as soon as I could but Oregon isn't exactly close."

I was confused. If Carter was with the MC, then who took Jess to the hospital?

"How'd you get to St. Thomas? Gemma?" I didn't think it was Mom, she hadn't answered her phone all day and no one could track her down. "Or your mom?"

"Juice took her." Carter spoke his voice sounded annoyed in a way I hadn't heard before. "He bitched the entire time but he took her. He was the only one that didn't go on the blood drive yesterday with us."

Wow. If Juice was taking Jessica to the hospital then he really was drinking as much as I suspected he was. "Seriously? Was he at least nice?" I asked Jessica rubbing her arm.

Jessica laughed, it sounded forced and didn't even come close to meeting her eyes. "If you call him belittling me every ten minutes being nice, then yeah."

"He's an ass." I assured her standing up from her neon pink blankets. "Do you need me to stay home with you tomorrow?"

"No. She's going to my place for a few days so I can keep an eye on her. She's on bedrest, but our daughters fine." Carter grinned, his mood changing in an instant.

It took a minute to hit me. "Oh! it's a girl!" I cheered grinning with him. "Congrats!" I knew a little girl was just what Jessica needed to finally be happy about the pregnancy she complained about.

"Yep. Doc told us today. Well, told Juice and Jessica." Carter smirked down at Jessica who rolled her eyes at him. "Guess Juice corrected that fast."

I grinned, picturing the two of them getting an ultrasound done together. It just showed how loyal Juice could be to his brothers that he'd take Jessica to the ER and stay. "Can't imagine why. Logan said to tell you he was gonna come up but he needed to get back before it was late. Guess he has court in the morning."

Carter motioned for me to follow him out of the room. Jessica had started to doze off already, she did look exhausted. "Look, I just want to give you a heads up… I'm gonna try getting her to move in move with me. I just think it'd be easier for all of us." He ruffled his dark hair sighing. "I don't like her being here alone during the day. At my place, my parents are next door if something like this happens."

I nodded, understanding what he was getting at. Jess would never go for it though, she was too independent for that. "Okay… I don't mind helping Carter. You both know that." I told him with a small smile. "But if she wants to move, then I'll figure something out. Maybe go back home to Dad's for a while."

"Yeah, well I just wanted to let you know. Didn't know if Logan had talked to you about moving over there yet."

"Did he mention it to you?" I asked curiously wondering when the two of them had time to talk about me.

Carter looked sheepish, which was comical because of big he was. "Kind of. I think he's wanting things to work with you two. Bad. I haven't told him about…" He trailed off but we both knew what he was talking about. He hadn't ratted me out about sleeping with Juice.

"I guess we'll see after you talk to Jess. I'm gonna go look for Gizmo, see if he's turned up yet." I grabbed my jacket, pulling it on before I walked out of the door.

"He'll come back." Carter said in a reassuring voice watching me leave.

I walked up and down the streets searching for my lost little dog. I called his name over and over, peeking into every alley I came across. I prayed no one had ran him over while Jess was gone. I couldn't lose my fur baby. I loved him like crazy, he was my number one. I trudged along, my shoulders slumped down after two hours of searching in vain. An older Bronco cruised behind me slowly, making the hair on my arms stand up.

"Excuse me, Mam?" A man called out, he'd stopped on the curb and was halfway out of the vehicle.

I glanced at him, my fingers curling around my cell phone ready to call for help. "Yes?"

"I was just looking for Riverside Dr?" He asked, he looked vaguely familiar. Older guy, cropped hair with gray streaked through it and dressed like a dork in a button down tucked into khakis.

"Its two blocks to your left." I advised starting to walk again, glancing behind me trying not to show just how nervous I was.

He didn't follow me, but I could feel his eyes on me the entire time I walked up to the apartment. I started up the stairs looking down again, feeling relieved when I saw he was finally gone. Creep.

I was ready to get home, take a long hot shower and go to bed. I'd just got done rubbing elbows with the most boring people I'd ever met in my entire life. Logan's family. They were old money and very judgmental when they found out exactly who I was. It was all I could do to bite my tongue for the rest of dinner. So when Logan had started his normal routine of biting my bottom lip and ears, he got turned down.

I let myself in, frowning at the emptiness of the apartment without Jess or Gizmo here anymore. She'd only been gone for a day but it felt like forever and I didn't like being alone in this place. Juice had been right, it was creepy and a bad neighborhood. I locked the door behind me taking off to hop in the shower. I undressed slowly, humming the melody of a my favorite sappy song. I'd just leaned over to turn the water on when I heard a distinct metal on metal noise and froze. I grabbed my phone from the sink counter, listening hard without going outside of the bathroom.

"She's in here. I saw her come in." A man's voice said. I could hear crashing and busting glass.

_Oh my god… someone broke in. _I pushed the bathroom door shut, locking it while I looked frantically for something to protect myself with. I grabbed the only thing I could see using as a weapon, the plunger of course, and hid behind the shower curtain. My heart thudded in my chest as I dialed the only person's number I knew I could count on to be here in a matter of minutes.

"Daddy? Someone's in the apartment." I whispered the minute he picked up.

"On my way."

I hung up the phone, my nerves were making me shaky as I could hear the men getting closer to my hiding spot. I crouched down trying to take deep, slow breaths. "She's in here!" Someone yelled then it sounded like they were trying to kick the bathroom door in.

I fought back the scream that threatened to escape my throat, and grabbed the robe to throw on, I wasn't going to make it easy on these assholes to get what they wanted. The wood crashed in, two masked men coming through the busted door frame. "What do you think you're gonna do with that darlin?" One of them asked laughing.

"Get out of here! I already called the police! They're on the way!" I screamed waving my weapon at them crazily smacking one of them in the head.

"Grab her!"

I jumped back, slamming my head into the shower stall hard. "Fuck!" I yelled out touching my head then slapping at the man that was fighting to get my robe opened "Let me go!" I kicked like crazy until I finally get one in the balls.

"Forget it. He said scare her a little."

I felt the first man's hand come down on the side my face hard and cried out when he did it again. "Tell your Dad consider this a warning, he's lucky we don't do the same thing to you like we did that bitch mother of yours." With that he gave me four hard kicks to my sides.

I felt the blood dripping from my nose and crumpled in the bathtub, tears and snot running in a mix down my face with it. I stayed in that spot, waiting for Dad to get there. Minutes went by fast until he rushed through the bathroom door, a Glock in his hand. "Aleah? Baby?!" He yelled just before he saw me. "I found her!"

I moved towards him, wrapping my arms around him like I hadn't since I was a little girl and sobbed into his cut not even caring about how dirty I was getting it. "Aleah, talk to me princess." He rocked me against him.

"They….. They…." I just shook my head crying some more realizing how lucky I was that they'd stopped when they did.

"Jesus Christ." I heard Jax say coming into the bathroom. "They didn't?"

"I don't know. She hasn't spoke." Dad answered him lifting me into his arms. "Come on baby."

Jax was talking to someone, giving them orders quietly, I ignored him until I heard him say. "Juice, see if she'll talk to you man."

I was shifted into another pair of arms, these ones weren't as broad, but they were familiar. I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly starting to cry all over again. "They were going to…."

"Shhhh… I know. I know, but they didn't? "

I shook my head into his chest taking deep breaths in to calm myself. My body hurt, my face was starting to bruise and swell I could feel it. "No." I whispered the tears slowing down. "I don't know who they were."

"What'd they look like?" Jax asked me in a careful manner touching my forehead lightly with his glove covered hand.

"Holy shit….." Carter's loud voice boomed, he stepped through the broken front door gingerly, leading Jessica. She was pale faced and looked like she wanted to cry with me. "What in the hell happened?"

Jax brushed my hair back from my eyes, giving me a look of pity. "I'm gonna get Jessica to help you get dressed ok?"

Juice shook his head, tightening his hold on me. "No, I got it. I'll be back in a minute with her."

I didn't argue with him. I let Juice pull a shirt over my head then tug up a pair of track pants. He paused, kissed me on the forehead and pulled me to his chest hugging me hard and tight. "God… I was so scared Lee. I thought…"

I hugged him back, fighting the tears that were straining behind my eyes. He kissed my forehead again before pulling me into the living room where everyone was waiting for us. "They left this nailed to the door." Bobby tossed a white mask like the ones the men had been wearing down on the couch.

"They were wearing those." I spoke shocking them all. Juice hovered behind me like a body guard. "There were two of them. I couldn't see faces. I'm sorry."

"Its not your fault Lee." Jax told me with a shake of his head. "Did they say anything? Anything you can remember?"

I thought hard, trying to replay the horrendous events in my mind. "They said to tell my Dad that this was a warning." I left out the part about Mom, not wanting to spill that secret to a room full of already angry bikers.

Tig came in, kicking wood out of his way. "The manager said the security cameras don't record. They got nothing."

"What kind of shit hole did you move into that didn't have any security?" Bobby asked out loud.

"The whore picked the place out. Not Aleah." Juice popped off throwing Jessica a death glare. "Where in the hell were you at anyways? isn't it convenient she was alone tonight when they decided to attack?"

"I was with Carter. I didn't know I needed to clear my schedule with you, you prick." Jessica snapped in her defense dropping the glass she'd been cleaning up.

I stayed quiet, keeping out of it. My sides were killing me, there was no way I could go to the hospital like that. Too many questions from people that would recognize me. I focused on the mess the men had made, but not for long. The arguing got out of hand quickly.

Juice scoffed, his face drawn up into a sneer. "Shut up. This is your fault. Stupid slut."

Carter snapped in a way I didn't know he could. He drew all 6 foot 3 inches of his height up against Juice, the veins in his neck popping out. "Look, I'm sick and tired of you talking to her like a piece of shit. You need to shut your fucking mouth now Juice."

"Or what? What you gonna do about it Prospect?" Juice got back in Carter's face, the menacing Juice coming out reminding me of why he was a Son. "Your whore has you so twisted you can't see past anything except her pussy."

"Who's the whore? You're the one fucking every crow eater that walks through the door then you come over here and fuck my best friends girl when you're done. Shut the fuck up while you're ahead."

They were nose to nose right now, eyes hard and looking like they were about to tear into each other at any second. I couldn't believe Carter would out me like that. Expose my dirty laundry for an entire club of people. I hoped Juice would hit him now. I could see Tig, Bobby, Jax, and Dad all looking at me now. I was in too much pain to be embarrassed.

"Its about time someone put him in his place. He thinks he can say or do anything he wants." Jessica cut in looking slightly gleeful at the fight happening. I felt bad for her, she didn't know Carter would be the one to suffer here. Size didn't mean anything to these guys.

Juice pushed himself against Carter, his hands clenched into two fists. "Better back down Prospect. Before you lose that rocker for good. And remember who your loyal to first, its not anyone's business who I'm fuckin."

"Hey. I don't want to hear about anyone fuckin my daughter." Dad said sounding irritated and tired. "Carter, you can figure out how to clean this shit up. And then you can patrol around my house because I'm taking my daughter home with me where she'll be safe."

"All the fuckin that's goin on… makes me think I'm hangin with the wrong crowd." Tig cracked with a grin.

"No. She can come home with me." Juice told him, calming down some when Carter took a step back from him. Bobby had pushed a hand on Carter's chest, breaking them up. "Aleah, get your stuff."

I looked from Dad to Juice like I was asking permission. Dad just nodded and pointed at my room. I hurriedly packed clothes, make up, phone charger and anything else I needed for a few days. My face was throbbing like hell. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Jax followed us out, staying on our heels the entire walk down the stairs. "Juice, make sure you do something about her face bro. Tara can help if she needs it."

"I'll be okay." I told Jax softly, knowing the hits I'd taken weren't anything I needed stitched. I'd just have one hell of a set of black eyes for a few days along with my broken nose. "Thanks for coming big bro."

Jax pulled into a tight hug, ruffling my hair like he did when I was a kid and he was an angry teenager. "Anytime. You call if you need us ok? We'll get the place picked back up. Tell Juice if anything you can remember comes back to you."

I nodded knowing I didn't exactly have much for them to go on. A mask didn't really help pin point anything on anyone. "I will." I promised climbing into the passenger side of my car.

"I'll get Half Sack to take your bike over to TM in the morning." Jax told Juice watching him put my bag in the backseat. "Take care of her." They did their man hug then Juice got in, driving us past his house. I sat up a little straighter, confused.

"Juice you just passed your house."

He shook his head, making a right like he was going into SAMCRO corner. "I moved a couple of months ago." He explained glancing over at me in the darkness. "I guess I never got around to mentioning it."

How in the hell do you move and not tell someone you're supposed to be so in love with? I wondered to myself. My eyes widened a little bit when he pulled my car into the driveway of a split level house. Much larger than the one he'd been living in before. I climbed out of the car, checking the house out while we walked up the stone walkway. It had a nice, well kept yard complete with flower beds. Little solar lamps lining out where to step. And a Harley logo doormat. Juice unlocked the door, he was carrying my bag for me. "Its not much." He hesitated before letting me see past him.

It was nice in the inside. Wooden floors that he'd spread huge area rugs over, the same couches he'd had in the other house, same 60' TV and entertainment center with his XBOX on pause on the screen. The posters I'd given him for Christmas were hanging on the walls as decoration with a few other he must have picked himself. "Its nice. Really." I yawned a little tired, and ready to clean the dried blood from my face.

"Come on. I'll help you clean that up." Juice led me down a long hallway, with four doors that were all shut. He stopped in front of one, pushing it open to show me it was his room.

His room looked more adult than the last one did. He had nicer furniture in this one, lamps on each nightstand, and matching curtains hanging from the windows. I could see a bathroom off to the side. He tossed my bag down on the floor in front of the open closet, then grabbed my hand to pull me into the bathroom. "Sit down.." He ordered digging through the medicine cabinet.

I couldn't help but think how surreal this was. I was always the one cleaning his face up after being hit, now he was wiping mine gently with alcohol and cotton balls. "Owww." I winced when he pressed a wet cloth to my nose, wiping the blood away.

"I'm sorry." He sounded like he meant. I watched his face, his brown eyes were worried while he finished up cleaning my wounds. "You want me to help you get in the shower or something?"

I shook my head, not feeling up to it. I needed this night to end. "In the morning. I just want to lay down."

"Take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Juice stood throwing the cotton balls away, tossing the cloth into a hamper against the wall. The bathroom was a master version. Shower stall in the corner, huge garden tub in the center. Fake plants surrounding it, I didn't know who decorated, but they'd done a pretty good job. "We'll figure something else out after tonight….. If you want to stay here. I didn't mean to jump in like that earlier, I just figured you'd rather be here than over there with them fighting."

I averted my eyes to look at the framed picture of some sort of shark he had hanging above the toilet. "Thanks for bringing me with you." I swallowed hard fighting back the tears that were forming, remembering again what had happened to me. "I don't want to go back to that apartment."

He nodded, folding his arms over his chest. "You feelin ok? Or need to talk about it?"

"No. I'm fine." I forced a smile, wiping underneath my eyes walking back into the bedroom area. I wanted to ask if the sheets were clean but something told me that might start another fight. I pulled the comforter back. "Goodnight Juice."

"Night Lee." He waited for me to crawl between the cool sheets before disappearing to his living room.

I laid there a while, sniffling into the pillow. _Tell your Dad this a warning, be happy we didn't do the same thing to you as your whore Mom. _replayed over and over in my mind. I needed to tell Mom about this first thing in the morning, tonight there were too many eyes and ears to get a private conversation in. Bad stuff happened to the MC, to Mom, to Tara, but this was the first time I'd ever been targeted. I hadn't even been questioned by ATF a few months ago with the other women, I didn't think anything about that though, because neither had Mom. She'd said it was because they knew we'd never tell them anything. But someone evidently thought I was a weak link.

I heard a tap tap tap sound and clutched the comforter in my hands, listening. What if they were coming back? What if they'd followed me here? I sat up straight, terrified. I braced myself, making the decision fast before I sprung from the bed running down the hallway hoping Juice didn't have anything I could trip over. The glow of the TV showed me the clear path to him once I rounded the corner. He was stretched out over the couch, a throw pillow stuffed behind his head watching a movie. "Juice?"

Juice twitched sitting up slowly, showing me he'd been dozing in and out. "You okay? You need something?" He asked his voice thick with sleep.

"Can you sleep with me?" I asked feeling childish suddenly. I should have been brave enough to stay alone. But I wasn't.

He stood up from the couch, the blanket he'd been using fell to the ground in a pile. "Yeah. If that's what you want."

"Please. I'd just… feel better if I wasn't alone." I padded back down the hallway with him climbing into the cloud like bed. It was way softer than the one he'd had before.

Juice slid in beside me, keeping a little bit of space between us. "You want me to get a different blanket?"

"No, you don't have to get another blanket." I sighed daring to roll closer to him. I could already feel his body heat. "I'm sorry you know… about stopping in the middle of sex. I guess we can't get it right."

"Its fine. I'm just glad you're not hurt." He said softly reaching out to find my hand. He slid his fingers through mine easily. "I was drunk. I shouldn't have came on to you like that anyways."

I pushed my feet in between his legs, warming them up. I'd been cold since I got attacked. A side effect of shock. "Well, I shouldn't have let it go that far. I was sober."

"You took advantage of me." I could hear the grin in his voice.

"I don't think its possible to take advantage of you. According to Carter you're fucking everything."

He laughed, it was a low quiet laugh. "Carter has a good imagination. I've only slept with one woman since we made out over a month ago. And trust me, its not every night."

I digested that information. I didn't think he was going without sex. That wasn't a Juice trait, he liked sex, and he liked it a lot. "Thanks for the info."

"Just being honest…."

"While you're being honest…. Why don't you tell me what you want from me?" I whispered without thinking. I wasn't sorry I'd let the words slip out. "What do you want this to be Juice?"

Juice didn't answer for a while. When he did, he rolled onto his side to see me in the dark. "I want to be with you. And only you. I want to be that guy that's taking you out around town, showing you off, making you smile. I love you, a lot. But I don't know how to be with you."

I rolled onto my side, ignoring the pain it caused, facing him now too. "I want to be with you Juice. But you have to let me. I can't be your friend. I tried. We end up doing things friends shouldn't, and caring like friends don't. I don't know how to be with you either, but I think we can figure it out. I love you, enough to admit we made mistakes before. But its different now."

Juice's mouth was on mine when I was done. He kissed me softly, just barely moving his lips in motion against mine. "Then be with me. Leave him for me. Do it. Please. I'll let you this time. I won't run from it. Be with me."

I didn't even think on it. I slid my hands behind his head kissing him more passionately parting only to whisper. "Together."


	22. Chapter 22

**Yep I'm posting two days in a row… shocking isn't it? But I felt like you guys deserved more…last nights episode made me want proud yet feel bad for Juice. I'm still mourning Liberachi's bike over here.. I personally liked the gold glitter. **

**Thanks for my reviews last chapter also, I don't want to be greedy but maybe I'll hit 100 this chapter yeah?**

**Jessica1018 thank you for all the brainstorming and reading over that you do, I threw in the 'yeah' just for you :P:P **

**I do not own SOA only my OC's **

Chapter 21 History repeats itself

I rode into TM with Juice, grateful more than ever that classes were over for the summer and all I had to worry about was work at the hospital later in the afternoon. I reached over and gave his hand a squeeze when we pulled in, trying to reassure him I'd be fine without him hovering for the day. "I'll be fine baby. I swear. I can stick around TM, help Mom and Jess out with getting caught back up."

Juice didn't looked convinced when his worried gaze fell back on me. "I'll try to be around the clubhouse as much as I can. Half Sack's getting his empty sac filled today so he's out for guard dog duty. Carter's still pretty pissed."

I knew Carter was pissed with all of us. He hadn't spoken to either of us since a day ago when it all happened, neither had Jessica. I hadn't even went back to the apartment to see what needed to be done in there. Juice had kept me locked up inside his house as long as he could, until Dad called and said he needed him at the clubhouse to do a few things. Juice pulled my car into the lot, parking beside Mom's SUV easily, his bike was still parked in the row with the others.

"Call me if you need anything ok?" He reminded me when we got out, lighting his cigarette.

I nodded, waving him off with my hand. "I got it Dad. Try not to get in any trouble today." I leaned in at the same time he did, tilting my head to the side for access for his mouth to fall onto mine. Whistles and cheers broke us apart, the guys at the garage were watching with huge shit eating grins on their faces. "Looks like we got an audience."

"Good. Now they know who you belong to." Juice grinned wickedly smacking me on the ass before walking off.

A white Prius pulled in when he was walking off, the tire completely gone and the rim didn't look too much better. I watched the blonde get out of the car, noticing she looked vaguely familiar. Then I remembered, this was Jessica's friend Lyla. I headed to the office where Jess was, not speaking to her. I'd wait for her to speak to me first. She didn't though, she walked past me to go talk to Lyla who had Opie grinning like an idiot for the first time since Donna died.

I shrugged sitting down behind the desk, checking Jessica's work to make sure she was doing everything right. She wasn't. I scribbled down a couple of reminders knowing they'd piss her off then got back up. I wasn't hanging around here all day with someone that hated my guts. I called Mom, seeing where she was. "Hey baby. You at the shop?"

"Yep… you at home or Jax's?"

"Jax's. Want to meet us over for coffee?" She asked, I could hear Tara in the background encouraging me.

"Be there in a few."

I shot Jessica a look on my way past , brushing against each other in the doorway. _Bitch _I thought to myself at the way she pinched her face up. I'd seen that look on her before, but never directed at me. I hopped in the car, not even telling Juice I was leaving and made it to Jax's in record time. I spotted him in the garage going through boxes. "Hey bro!"

"Hey Lee, how ya doin?" Jax paused from the boxes he was digging through. "Face looks a little bit better."

"It feels the same." I admitted touching the bruises lightly with my finger tips. "Juice isn't exactly Florence Nightingale."

Jax snorted wiping his hands off on his baggy jeans. "Tell me about it. Chibs is on his way over, we'll get him to look. Or Tara's in the house."

"I know, I'm over for coffee with the girls." I smirked at him letting myself into the house.

I walked into the kitchen spotting Mom and Tara at the small table huddled up together talking in low voices. "Morning." I greeted getting myself a mug down. One thing about your brothers house is that it always feels like your own after being there so much.

"Morning…. You look like I feel." Mom told me stirring her cup with a spoon.

"I'm sore." I told her, letting her know more of how rough I felt than I had Juice or Jax. "I don't think my ribs are broken but they're definitely hurting."

"Maybe they're sore from your night at Juice's"

I rolled my eyes, knowing that was going to come up. "It wasn't like that when he invited me. He was just being nice….." Very nice actually, the type of nice that meant I woke up snuggled into that caramel chest and matching arms.

"Wasn't like that… so it changed?" Mom asked, her and Tara exchanged a small smile together.

"Kind of. Its not official. I still have to talk to Logan." I sighed knowing I was a cheating slut for what I'd been doing. We didn't do anything more than kiss last night, but it was still cheating. "I need to tell you two something."

Tara pushed the creamer towards me, eyeing me carefully. "Is it about the attack?"

I nodded, pouring some more creamer into my cup. "Yeah… I didn't say anything to Dad or the others but, when they told me to tell Dad consider it warning, they mentioned.. What they did to you…" I was practically whispering.

"Shit…." Mom looked uneasy now, like she was ready to attack someone on the slightest provocation. "Did you see who they were?"

I shook my head no sipping on the hot liquid. "Nope. I don't know if I should even say anything to anyone else about it."

Tara looked thoughtful while she scribbled onto a prescription pad. "How about if you say you saw the tattoo like Gemma did? Only you just let them think it was just you that saw it?"

"That could help. Tell Jax when he comes in it just came to you." Mom instructed me finishing off her own coffee. "You girls up for the pharmacy and nail salon when we get done here?"

"Nothing better to do." I told her jumping when the side door opened, Jax coming in. I listened to him and Mom banter over a missing box for a few minutes and peeked at what Tara had prescribed. Something for Mom. I looked at her, frowning and she mouthed later at me. I nodded standing up to empty my mug out. "Hey Jackson?"

Jax looked at me, Chibs had just walked in and was taking the box back out for him. "Yeah?"

"I forgot to tell you guys, I saw a tattoo on one of the guys. A figure eight." I kept my back to him, facing the sink taking greater lengths than I needed to rinse the mug out.

"Shit…. You think it was one of Darby's guys?" Mom asked, playing into it perfectly.

Chibs came back in giving me a small grin when he caught my eye. "Morning love. Heard you and the boyo patched things up."

"If you mean the face yeah, if you mean the relationship, maybe." I grinned, ignoring the soreness again at the effort.

Jax stopped by the door pulling his cut on to signal ready to leave. "If you think up anything else, call me."

I nodded following everyone else out, climbing into Mom's car with her and Tara. "You want me to prescribe you something to help you sleep or are you doing okay?" Tara offered turning to look at me.

"I slept okay last night, and the night before." I popped a Tic Tac in my mouth from the container I found in the backseat. Had to be Luann's, they were the pink ones. "I haven't went back home though. I'm kinda scared." More like terrified to be honest….

"What about the birth control? I only gave you 4 months."

I felt my cheeks blush, more embarrassed about talking about this in front of my mom than I was anything. "Ummm… yeah. I could use that. I'm almost out."

"I'd hate to have little brown babies running around." Mom voiced looking at me in the rearview mirror. "You kids workin it out or what?"

"Trying to. I don't know, we're both still fidgety about it, but I feel better being over there. Logan's….. not the same."

Tara nodded, a knowing look on her face. "It makes you feel safer, being with someone that you know could and would kill for you."

"Exactly."

We wandered around town after dropping off our prescriptions, getting our nails done, looking in a few shops together. Girl time. Something I would have done with Jessica if we weren't mad at each other. We were coming out of the pharmacy when Mom stared off into what I thought was the street, then took off running. "I'll go after her, you don't need to run" Tara told me motioning for me to stay before taking off after Mom down the sidewalk at a run.

I leaned against the car, watching intently to make sure nothing happened to them. My hands flew to my mouth when Mom jerked back, clocking Tara in the face hard. "Oh my god! Are you ok?!" I exclaimed rushing over to them.

"I'm fine." It was obvious she was lying from the way she was holding her face. "Guess we're twins now."

"It was an accident. I swear.. I thought I saw…." Mom looked off down the street again. "I thought I saw the girl that…never mind."

We took Tara back home, to let her patch herself up. Mom kept frowning at her nose with the bandage and the black eyes that were already forming. "I guess I'm gonna go check the apartment out." I sighed going for the door. I was hating this, I didn't want to go back into that place. Not so soon. But someone had to do it and I knew Jessica wasn't going to.

"Be careful. Want me to go with you?" Mom offered pushing my dark hair that fallen from my ponytail back.

"I'll be fine. Its broad daylight. Love you."

"Love you too. Call me, let me know you're okay."

I headed to the apartment nervous, scared, and worried all at the same time. I didn't know if Jess had been around there yet, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I unlocked the repaired door, someone had replaced it, and felt my stomach twisting into knots so huge I thought I'd puke. A loud, excited barking made tears come to my eyes. "Gizmo?!"

The smoosh faced pug ran over to me, a big red bow tied around his neck. I grabbed him up, hugging him tightly to my body. "How did you get here baby?" I cooed rubbing his ears. I'd never been so happy in my life to see this little guy. I walked around cautiously, observing what had changed.

Jessica's stuff was gone. Everything, all of her pictures, some of her furniture, and when I walked into her room, it was completely wiped out. She had moved without even telling me. I felt more tears push through. What had happened to us that we couldn't even talk anymore? I went back into the kitchen letting my tears run down my cheeks without wiping them, Gizmo licked them away making me smile a little through my pity party. I sat down in one of the chairs, petting his smooth back. Then I saw the note.

_Aleah, _

_I'm sorry I had to leave like this, but I can't stay here any longer. We both knew it was coming. I hope that we can get back on the right track. I found Gizmo, hope it makes it better. Sorry. _

_Jess_

There was a stack of bills beside the letter, her share of the bills for the next three months. I sighed tossing the money back down with the letter. I'd give it back, I didn't need Carter's money to survive. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to live here on my own, not after being attacked. I couldn't even sleep by myself in Juice's room with him on the couch. This was the first time I'd been completely alone since it had all happened. "Come on baby, lets go to Daddy's house." I told the dog shutting the lights back off. Tonight wouldn't be my first night in here.

Once I got back to TM, things were slow. Jessica had left when Mom got there later in the afternoon so it was just us. I put Gizmo on his runner and busied myself with helping out around the office, calling into the hospital sick. Tara said she'd take care of it, explain what had happened and that I was traumatized. I was sweeping the office floor when Carter came in, greasy and smelling like man sweat.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" Carter asked me, his green eyes serious.

Part of me wanted to be a bitch, say hell no I have nothing to say to you. Not after the way he'd ousted me to an entire MC of family. But I didn't. Instead I nodded and followed him to the picnic table. I stood when he sat down, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Look… I just… want to apologize to you. For what I did. I wasn't mad with you, I was pissed with Juice for talking about Jess like that. I was just trying to get under his skin, and wasn't thinking about how that could hurt you too." Carter started, hurrying like he was trying to say everything before I changed my mind about listening. "And I think we can both agree, their love/hate relationship has gotten ridiculous."

That much, I could agree on. They were horrible to each other. "I get that. Its fine Carter."

"No its not… I shouldn't have did it." His eyes searched mine, looking for forgiveness I knew.

"Its fine. I understand, Juice wouldn't let someone talk to me like that either." And he wouldn't. it was a respect thing. "My beef is with Jess now, not you."

Carter looked sheepish, twisting his thumbs in a circle. "You mean about her moving out?"

I kicked a cigarette butt around, nodding hoping I didn't cry again. "Yeah."

"Actually… that was me too." Carter sighed digging in the pockets of his TM shirt for a pack of gum. He popped a piece into his mouth, chewing hard. "I don't want her there anymore. I told her to leave."

So Carter was already pulling the Old Man card with her. That half way explained why she'd did it so sneakily. "Well, here's your money back." I reached into my back pocket taking the stack of bills out. "I don't need it."

He wouldn't take it, his hands pushed it back away. "No keep it, I know it's a shock being on your own now. Its my fault, so I owe it to you."

I sighed seeing he wasn't going to take it back without a fight. I'd sneak it into Jessica's bag somehow the next time she was at work. "Fine. Are you and Juice ok?"

"Not yet." Carter said, his eyes darkening somewhat. "We'll talk. You know how that goes."

I did know it went. They'd either make up on their own, or be thrown into the ring to fight it out of their systems. I talked with him a couple of more minutes before I spotted Juice coming towards us, hands in his cut. It looked like everyone was mostly gone but him a two other bikes.

"I'll leave you to it then," I gave Carter a smile leaving. I met Juice halfway between and gave him a quick kiss. "He's trying." I told him, trying to let him to work it out. Juice just shrugged not committed and kissed me back. "I'll be in the office."

Juice's POV

"Hey bro." Carter told me with a slight head nod, not getting up from his spot. "Wanna talk?"

I sat down beside him, my boots spread out on the seat of the bench. I was pissed with him, brother or not. You didn't air your brothers dirty business out in the air like that. You kept their secrets like you'd keep your own. Especially delicate ones that involved the prez's daughter. "I guess so."

I busied myself with lighting a joint. It was just our normal thing when we had to have a serious talk, we smoked a joint together. Sometimes we added in Firefly or Game of Thrones, but well we couldn't exactly go to the clubhouse for a TV break with all of the shit that was happening around us. Otto got attacked at Stockton by an the AB, Aleah got attacked by Zobelle's guys too just judging from the tat she'd told Jax about, and everything was just a big mess.

"Look, I meant no disrespect the other night, but you stepped over a line." Carter told me accepting the joint for his hit. "I didn't want to be a dick, but you can't talk about my Old Lady like that."

"You can't talk about your brothers like that either if you expect to get in." I reminded him, hunching over. "Brothers come first, then your family."

Carter nodded solemnly, knowing I was right. He knew the rules of importance around here. "Just… cool it with Jess ok man? And I'm sorry for screwing Aleah over by moving Jess out like that."

That was news to me. I didn't know shit about Jessica moving out of the apartment. Aleah was back to keeping things from me a day into our relationship. "It'll work out. I'm hoping Aleah will move in with me soon anyways. Or at least with Clay. I don't like her being over on that side of town."

"Me either. I told them it wasn't safe. Then that shit went down. And we can't even prove who did it."

"We vote on retaliation in a few. For Aleah and Otto." I told him snubbing out the roach we had left. The weed had me relaxed, but still ready and able if I needed to do something. "I'm gonna go stock up the bar. I don't have shit going on."

"Hate for you to get those pretty hands greasy." Carter smirked getting up from the table at the same time.

"That's what we have prospects for." I shot off grinning, glad to be back at ease with the only friend I had. "I'll be in the clubhouse."

I went back in, turning the music up to work to. I'd been cleaning up and restocking for an hour when Jax came in, talking to me about the plan for retaliation. It was clear he didn't want me to vote with Clay. That was a toughie. I almost always went with what Clay said or wanted to do since my vote was also usually swayed by whatever Tig wanted to do. I had a high respect for both of them, you didn't get that old in this life because you made mistakes. I simmered on it for a while, going back and forth over my vote until we called chapel time.

I slid into my seat at the end of the row on the left of Clay, beside Bobby. I listened as we went over the pros and cons, no one being able to convince all of us either way. I felt Jax's eyes on me when I called my vote, knowing someone was going to be mad no matter which way I meant. Retaliation for Otto and Aleah was a no go. I wanted revenge for her, to hurt the bastards that hurt my girl like that. I watched as everyone went off in different ways, all of us pissed with each other. Jax and Clay especially. They were at each others throats worse than two pit bulls in a cage to fight.

I sighed, going over to where Aleah was sitting with Tara and Gemma at a table. It was already starting to get dark outside. "Hey baby." I kissed her on the cheek gently, not wanting to hurt her.

"Everything okay?" She asked frowning over at the obvious line that was drawn between all of us.

"Rough vote." I told her giving her a look telling her I'd explain later. I didn't mind sharing stuff with her, but I wasn't going to do it in front of Gemma and Tara. I didn't know how much they were allowed to know by their Old Men. "You stayin with me tonight?"

She nodded quickly, making the coldness in my chest warm up some. I could definitely go for a horror movie marathon and ice cream with her tonight to help lock away this pile of shit we were wading through. "Yeah. I gotta bring Giz though, if that's okay."

"You know it is. I love the little guy. Glad he came back." I'd been pissed that the dog we'd fought over had ran away thanks to Jessica when I'd taken her to the hospital. It'd only made my hangover that much worse when Carter called to wake me and get me to go pick her up.

Her phone buzzed on the table, I looked down in just enough time to see it was that douche Logan calling. I gave her a sharp look when she hit the ignore button. "Thought you took care of that?"

"Not yet." She said in a quiet tone that made my heart clench a little. If she'd really picked me then she should have broken up with him yesterday. When she was supposed to. "I will, I just… haven't felt like dealing with that yet."

Chibs walked past us, the keys to the van that Dogboy and Carter had just finished towing in in his hands. "I got to do everything around here, I swear it." He joking grumbled going to climb in the drivers side.

I looked back down at the brunette beside me, wanting like hell to just leave already. "You ready to-" BOOM! An explosion rocked the ground, sending all of us off balance. "Holy shit.. Chibs!"

I took off at a run with the others, panic seizing my body. "Chibs? Brother?!" I slid my hands behind his head freaking out. Blood was dripping from his head, and he was knocked out. "Get 911!"

Aleah's POV

I was curled up on the black leather couch still shaking when the guys finally got done at chapel. I couldn't believe it, Chibs had gotten blown up in the parking lot just trying to start a junky van that we'd towed in earlier to get it off of the tow truck. These guys were shot at all the time, stabbed, and Chibs was injured starting a damn van for crying out loud.

The cops and bystanders had mostly cleared out for the night, Mom was still at the clubhouse, wringing her hands and trying not to look worried even though I knew she was feeling the same thing I was. That was entirely too close for comfort. Bad shit didn't happen to us in our town, until now. "Hey…. You ready?" Juice's voice came from behind me.

I sat up quickly, sliding on the slick leather. "Yeah." I said in a small voice, looking at his face for any hint of whatever emotion he was feeling. Nothing except for a jaw held in and hard eyes.

"Let's go. You'll have to leave your car." He told me handing me a helmet he must have grabbed from one of the lockers. "I'll see you later Gem."

Mom nodded hugging me tightly then Juice. "You kids take care of each other."

"Always." Juice replied taking my hand and pulling me out of the door. He was in a rush to leave I noticed climbing on behind him placing my feet on the pegs of his bike.

I slid my arms around his body, holding on tightly to his tensed up back. I could feel just how stressed he was through the way he was holding himself while we rode to his house. It still amazed me at how sophisticated it was for him, nothing like the one he'd been living in. I followed him inside the house, biting my lips not sure of what to say. "Juice? Are you okay?"

He turned around, grabbing me up roughly, pressing his body against mine in a tight hug. He buried his face in my hair, breathing hard. I hugged him back, rubbing his sides soothingly. "Hey, its okay. Chibs will make it through. He's tough." That's what I kept telling myself. Chibs would make it out of this okay.

"I don't know… I don't know what to do anymore." He whispered through the curls that were falling down. "I couldn't protect you, Chibs was at the lot and shit still went down."

"It happens baby. It just.. Happens." I whispered letting him unload on me like I always did. "Just relax, we'll all be fine."

Juice pulled back, kissing me hard lifting me up enough to walk me backwards towards his room. "Yeah we will. We always are."

I kissed his cheek letting him toss me onto the messy bed we'd left behind this morning. "Come here, hold me. Please."

Juice was quick to oblige. He kicked off his boots and climbed in next to me, wrapping his arms all the way around my smaller body. "I love you Lee." he whispered touching the little stars I'd tattooed on my hip where my jeans were riding down at. "You have no idea how happy you made me, giving me another chance at this."

I did know. It was the same way I felt. "I love you…. More than anything." I whispered back curling into his chest. I'd missed the way our bodies felt against each other even more than I'd missed the other physical stuff that was just as good as the cuddling.

The next morning after we got ready, I called Tara for a ride to work. I couldn't afford to keep calling in no matter how bad my face looked right now. I had bills to figure out how to pay on my own now. Juice was shaving his head carefully in the mirror, he looked a lot better than he did the night before. "You want me to pick you up?"

"If you don't mind." I smiled double checking to make sure I had everything I needed. Aqua blue scrubs were a go, white sneakers were a go, purse with phone and kindle were a go, and my meager lunch money was a go. I was set. "Or I can see if Tara can drop me off. I'm not sure what time she gets off tonight."

"I'll get you. Just text me a little bit before and remind me." He wiped the shaving cream off of his head with the towel he'd dried off on. "Do me a favor though…."

I glanced up at him in the mirror, meeting his eyes. "What's what?" I asked wondering what he wanted.

"No more lunch dates with that douche bag paper pusher. Unless its to break up with him for real this time."

Ah. He was worried about Logan. I knew I needed to end that today, sooner rather than later. I'd went back to ignoring all of his calls and messages. If he'd went by the apartment, I didn't know. And if he'd tried the hospital I'd been MIA for the past couple of days. I'd basically dropped off of the face of the earth as far as he was concerned. "Don't worry about him. I'll handle it Juice." I said gently not wanting to argue this early in the morning. "I'm going to check on Chibs while I'm there today too."

"Good. Let me know what's happening with him." Juice told me pulling his Reaper Crew shirt on over his head. "I gotta head out, we have some stuff to do today."

I nodded following him through the house to the living room. "Okay…. If something changes I'll get Tara to drop me off at Mom's tonight."

Juice paused at the doorway, he was using the wall to balance himself when he put his shoes on. "Here." He dug in his pocket for his key ring, pulling a small gold key off of the cluster. "It unlocks all of the doors."

I felt my heart skip a beat. A key to the house… already. I blinked taking it from him. "Wow… you sure?"

"Might as well. I was thinking you could stay a while. If you want to…"

"You know I do. We have a lot of catching up on." I grinned happily standing on my tip toes to kiss his chin. A horn blared from outside interrupting us. "Perfect timing."

Juice smirked kissing me once on the lips before he opened the door, me following him out. "Maybe tonight we can get reacquainted with each other."

"Maybe." I teased giving him a little wave walking over to Tara's cutlass. "Bye hon." I swung open the car door and climbed into the older vehicle. "Hey."

Tara smiled at me, backing up and heading to St. Thomas. "Hey. You look happy."

"As happy as I can be with one of my uncles getting blown up and in ICU." I told her getting a knowing sigh. "Its always something with these guys."

"Tell me about it. I stayed with him for a bit last night until he was semi stable. They think he'll make it through. I'm going there first to check on him. I can tell Susan I need your help if you want to come with me."

"Sure. I promised Juice I'd let him know what was going on." I told her looking out of the window enjoying the ride over to the hospital. "Thanks for picking me up. Juice had to run."

"How's that going?" She asked making the turn for the parking lot.

I shrugged, looking in the fold down mirror at myself seeing how bad I looked one last time before we got out of the car. "Its been better, but its been worse too. I don't know."

Tara gave me a sympathetic smile, walking in beside me. "It'll work out. Look at me and Jax."

I snorted at the example. They were their own little Romeo and Juliet story. But she had a point, it worked out for them even with a crazy ex boyfriend and junkie ex wife. We both clocked in and put our things in our lockers before heading down to see Chibs. None of the guys were there yet, so we were able to check into things on our own. Tara read through his papers, explaining things to me before we slipped into his hospital room. I couldn't help but gasp when I saw Chibs laying in the bed so lifeless. "Oh Chibs…" I whispered touching his still hand.

"He's in a drug induced coma." Tara explained checking over his vitals on the machines. "He should wake up sometime today. If we're lucky."

I nodded, a grimace on my face when I looked at his head. Poor Chibs. I'd never seen him this beat before. He was a tough guy, not the same tough as Tig but a more…. Discrete warrior. I could still remember when I was kid and loved to hear his accent. That was ages ago when I giggled over his way of calling me a 'wee lass'. "Are the guys coming to see him?"

"Not allowed visitors just yet, but I think I can get Gemma in." Tara told me on our way back out.

I was more than happy to get to my regular job on the nursery floor. Seeing those little humans completely changed my mood around. I couldn't help but grin and baby talk the whole time I was in there even if I was changing diapers most of the time. There were three of us that worked in there together, it was easier to keep up with the feedings that way. I couldn't wait for Jess to have her baby even if she was mad at me. I knew it'd change things with us, one of us having a baby and a live in boyfriend but it just felt right. We were getting older. I'd be 19 in just a few short months, Jess was nearing on 20 now. We were young but I felt so old from the past year. So much had happened.

I stayed busy until my lunch break and I dreaded going down the elevator, I had a feeling someone I didn't want to see would be waiting for me. And he was. Logan was sitting in his usual chair, his knee bouncing impatiently when the doors opened. I almost turned and got back on but it was too late, he'd spotted me. I pursed my lips instead, trying to decide if I should just walk past him. I didn't get that chance. He jumped up instantly and rushed over to me. "Aleah? God, I've been so worried about you." He tried to hug me but I pushed him away.

"Logan… don't. touch me." I whispered not wanting to make a scene. If any of the guys actually did come to see Chibs and saw me hugging Logan, things would get ugly quick in the corridor.

Logan recoiled, looking hurt. "My girlfriend doesn't want me to touch her?"

"We should… we need to talk." I told him softly looking around us. "Let's go for a walk."

Logan looked like a hurt child, but he followed me out onto the street to a bench a few feet away from the hospital. "What's wrong? I heard about the break in, then I couldn't get in touch with you. Carter just said he hadn't saw you. That was it. He was lying wasn't he?"

"Listen…. Just listen ok?" I sighed hating to do this to him. He was a great guy, but he wasn't my great guy. I tried to love him, be with him like I had been with Juice but it just wouldn't happen. We were too different. "I think it'd be better if we broke things off Logan. I don't think we can fit together like you want us to."

His face fell, he opened his mouth to speak but I stopped him. "We're leading two completely different lives. And.. I think I'm going to get back together with Juice."

"Juice? You mean that white trash biker?" Logan snapped angrily. Oh boy… he wasn't taking this good at all. "The one that you told me it was definitely over with? Is he who you've been with the past few times I couldn't get a hold of you?"

"Logan stop. I don't want to get into it like this. I just.. Cant be with you. I'm sorry. I really am. You'll make some girl happy." I told him feeling horrible I'd just wrecked everything for him. I got back up from the bench. "I'll see you around."

Logan jumped up too, grabbing my arm. "Wait…. Just.. Give me another chance. You can't just break up with me and that's it. I'm better than him."

"No you're really not." I jerked my arm from his hold getting mad now. "And don't grab me again. Bye Logan." I took off, practically running from him and rushed back into the hospital leaving him on the sidewalk alone. I grabbed food from a vending machine and went to the one place he couldn't find me even if he looked… Chibs room. I had my lunch in the corner in silence, just observing the sleeping Scotsman. He didn't move, make any noises… nothing.

I stayed hidden until my break was over then went back to work, this time cleaning up the nursery by dusting and straightening things up. I saw Tara a few times in and out between her surgeries. I knew I liked the more hands on aspect of being a nurse, getting to actually talk to the patients. Hers were usually asleep on the table except for the consults. I sent Juice a text telling him I was getting off soon and got one back a few minutes later saying he wasn't sure if he'd make it. I rolled my eyes, wishing he'd of let me just ask Tara when I wanted to this morning. I wandered around the floors for a few minutes until I spotted her. "Hey Doc." I grinned at her tired eyes. "Think I can catch a ride out of here with you?"

"Sure. I'm off in 30. How's that?"

"Perfect. I'll go finish up and meet you downstairs." I told her heading back up to make sure I had my logs done and all of my notes written out for the next shift. I finished the feeding spreadsheet then double checked everyone's diapers until my relief got there. I hurried downstairs, running a couple of minutes behind praying Tara hadn't let me yet. . "Thanks for waiting."

"No problem. Gemma came by to see Chibs said for us to come by. The guys have something goin on I guess. I can't get ahold of Jax."

I relaxed back in the seat, my feet were hurting from so much walking. "Sounds good to me. Maybe she cooked something." I could hope anyways. I didn't know what type of groceries Juice had at his place, but I was betting it was some of his 'clean eating' mumbo jumbo. "I tried texting Juice for a ride but he said he couldn't make it too. Wonder what happened now."

"No telling." Tara smirked as we pulled into the familiar house. I missed this place sometimes, it was still home in my mind. I hopped out leading Tara through the kitchen door, all of the family smells hitting me. Mom's bird was walking around on the counter at its own leisure, squawking every now and then.

Mom came down the stairs carrying her hat boxes that I knew for a fact didn't have any hats inside. Gun control was something practiced in our house in our own outlaw way. Growing up you knew to keep away from Mom's hat boxes and Dad's cigar boxes. "Here. Try this." She said handing me a .38 handgun out of one of them.

"Mom… I don't need a gun." I protested watching her hand one to Tara too.

She looked over at me, a knowing smirk on her face. "You still have the one I gave you?" she asked Tara.

"No I got rid of it after Kohn left." Tara replied stiffly not saying what we all knew. "Do you and Clay really need this many guns?"

"These are just mine." Mom smiled rifling for bullets next.

"What are these for?"

"Lets go" Mom ordered us ushering us out of the house. "Come on."

We pulled up at CaraCara a few minutes later for our impromptu target practice. I crawled out of the backseat, I wasn't nervous about having the gun. I knew how to use it, and I knew how to hit my target spot on. You didn't grow up around outlaws and not learn how to handle yourself. I regretted not having a gun in the apartment when the break in happened. I just hated having one laying around, it made me uneasy to know that if the tables turned, I could be shot with my own gun.

We fired off round after round at the movie posters Mom hung up on the back drops in the parking lot, both of us stopping to help Tara. "Here… like this." Mom showed her just as a little white car pulled in. I automatically recognized the whore that had been making a play for Jax, and starting a fight for Tara when she got out, took one look at us and ran off inside.

Laughing we fired off a few shots apiece into the car. "We better get out of here." I laughed unloading the gun and slipping it in my waist. "Before Luann figures out its us out here."

"Agreed." Tara nodded laughing with us. "Come on. We can grab something to eat."

It wasn't until after we were at the clubhouse that we knew we'd been caught. Jax smirked and made a comment about gunfire at CaraCara, Luann the snitch had ratted us out. "Juice is inside." He told me nodding over his shoulder at the clubhouse.

I took the hint and winked at them going to find my own man. Juice was sitting at a table typing furiously into a laptop. "Hey hon." I greeted him earning snickers from Tig. "What's up?"

"Nothin.. Just looking into a few things." He flashed a quick grin, not taking his main attention from the laptop screen. "You can drive your car out now."

"Good. That's what I was hoping for." I slid down next to him, my hand rubbing on his thigh. "You almost done here?"

Juice tore his eyes away again, I could see the lust that was behind the seriousness. "Almost. I have a few things to do tonight. But then I'll meet you at the house."

I shrugged, that'd give me time to figure out something for dinner and maybe clean up his place for him. "Works for me, I'm gonna head out. I need to make a store run."

"Be careful. Make sure you lock the doors when you get home." He ordered me giving the hand on his leg a squeeze. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I stood up, pushing the chair back in. "Love you."

"Always."

I headed to the grocery store when I left TM, grabbing a few things for a simple dinner and some more body wash. Juice's axe wasn't exactly what my skin was used to. I tossed in a pack of condoms… wishful thinking I thought to myself. I was sure he had some but you couldn't ever be too sure. I grabbed up a couple of trashy tabloids while I waited in line, realizing I'd already been an hour in the store. If I didn't hurry he'd beat me home.

When I made it back to Juice's, he wasn't there though. I let myself in, heading to his kitchen. Everything was extremely clean in here, once again, not like the old place. It almost looked like he hadn't ever cooked in his kitchen since he moved in. I moved around chopping things, baking and simmering. It was getting late. I grabbed my phone from my bag checking for any missed calls or texts, nothing. I knew if he was doing club stuff still it'd be pointless for me to try him, so I didn't bother. After 30 more minutes of waiting I started to eat without him, Gizmo curled up beside me.

I was halfway into Pretty Woman on cable when the phone finally rang. I jumped up, tripping over the carpet. "Owww…" I groaned grabbing the phone. I didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyways hesitantly. "Hello?"

"Aleah?" Juice breathed into the phone, it was noisy in the background.

"Juice… where are you? I thought you'd be here by now."

There was a pregnant pause before he spoke again. "Its gonna be a while."

"How much longer? I can run your food to the clubhouse if you want." I offered honestly not minding as long as it meant I could see him again. My Juice addiction was starting up strong again.

"No… You can't. I'm in jail Lee. Shit went down tonight. I'm sorry."


	23. Chapter 23

**Another update :D I'm getting good at this ha ha. Thanks for my follows and reviews last chapter, it's the only reason I'm updating day to day lately. It shows me that you guys are eager to read. **

**Jessica gets credit of course, for her help. **

**I do not own SOA**

Chapter 21 Jailhouse Rock

I hadn't slept a wink all night. I was a wreck, I knew it showed in my appearance even though I'd tried to put make up on to hide the dark circles and worry lines that were starting to appear on my normally smooth skin. My stomach stayed twisted in a knot so tight I couldn't even stomach anything other than coffee for breakfast before I left to go meet Mom, Tara, and Rosen at the clubhouse.

I pulled in noticing everyone else's cars were already there and hurried inside, determined not to miss out on any of the conversation. I wasn't even sure what in the hell they'd all done to get locked up for. I rushed inside, spotting them immediately on the black leather couches huddled together. "What'd I miss?"

Mom straightened up, her own eyes looked tired and worried. "Nothing. We were waiting for you."

Tara managed a small smile, but I knew it was forced. "No sleep either?"

I shook my head sitting down beside her, glad that for once this place was ghostly empty. "What in hell did they do to get every one of them locked up?"

Rosen glanced at Mom before he answered me, wording himself carefully. "They stormed a church service. Held up an entire congregation of men, women, and small children with assault rifles. Illegal ones at that."

My heart rate surged. Illegal weapons charges. Just what we needed crashing down on us. "So there's no way we can deny they did anything wrong here." I stated flatly with a sigh. He didn't answer my full question though, I'd have to get that out of Mom or Tara. I didn't know what had made them do it, the why, not what they did was important.

"No, unfortunately no. Not with that many witnesses. The case is being held up too, not sure

what's going on there."

"How much bail are we looking at?" Mom asked turning to face the lawyer.

"You're going to need a big sum. Its 50k a head. You'd need…. 300k." He calculated easily, looking like he actually did feel sorry about this. The guys were probably his best clients.

Mom nodded and said without missing a beat. "I'll put up the house."

"My fathers too." Tara spoke up glancing at mom.

Rosen opened his hands helplessly. "That should be enough for Clay.. Maybe Jax. But that's it."

"No, Clay wont leave them in there." Mom told him, looking like a woman against the world right now.

"Who set the bail?" I asked an idea forming in my mind suddenly. It just might work….

Rosen picked up the file from the table and flipped through it. "Judge Turner. He's a tough one, I don't think I can change his mind on this one. There's some hold up on other matters with this case too."

A glimmer of hope formed in my heart. I looked at Mom, then Tara. "I think I can convince him. And fix that hold up at the courthouse."

Rosen nodded, picking up his papers and stuffing them back into his briefcase with ease. "Whatever you think you can do to get them out. I'll try everything from my end too. But Turner is a tough one. He's not known for being nice." He stood, giving Mom and Tara goodbye nods. "I'll be in touch."

We watched him leave before starting our own hushed conversation. "How do you think you can convince him?" Mom asked curiously lighting a cigarette up.

"Easy. He's Logan's dad. And Logan is the one processing the paperwork at the courthouse." I replied knowing how bad this sounded that they hadn't heard of this before. "I think he'll help. I don't know. What other options do we have if he won't?"

"Elliot. I can try Elliot. The MC helped him out the other day with some dealings." Mom flicked her ashes into a tray on the smaller table in front of the couch. "I don't know what else to do. We can't leave them in there. They're not safe."

I knew they weren't safe. Dad, Bobby, even Happy were all fine in prison. They'd done hard time before, Juice hadn't. He was young, and smaller than the rest. He was an easy target in that place. "I know." I said softly picking at the polish chipping away on my nails. "I'll go straight over to the courthouse and see if Logan will help. I don't know if he will, we broke up last night."

"I'll let the hospital know you're having family issues." Tara offered gathering her purse and getting up with me. "Just keep us posted… and be careful."

I patted my own overly large purse protectively. "I'm safe. I'll call you guys with an update." I leaned down and gave Mom a kiss before leaving.

Logan was bound to be pissed and pretty damn hurt from the way I'd broken up with him. I could hope though, that maybe he'd do something for me. He was a pretty nice guy. If I failed, I could always send Carter in to try next. They'd been friends for years, grew up together. I had to do whatever I could to get my family back safe, I had a father, brother, and boyfriend in there together. It wasn't heard to find Logan once I got to the courthouse. He was behind a high counter in the clerks office sorting through some paperwork when I spotted him.

"Logan?" I called out softly, not wanting to attract the attention of the other people working there.

The tall, lean, blonde turned his head to the side to see who wanted him and I noticed the change of facial expressions instantly. It went from laid back to upset in a second. "Can I help you? Ma'm?" He smirked at me his eyes sending me a coldness that I'd never associated with this man.

I felt sheepish, out of place, and scared suddenly. I shuffled my feet around nodding. "Can we…. Talk?"

Logan snapped the file shut he had in his hand, walking over to open what I guessed was a locked door. "Come on. I guess I have a minute to spare."

I could feel the eyes of the other workers on us when he led back to an office. I'd met most of them at the office parties I'd went to with him but I'd never bothered to learn their names. He shut the door behind us with a loud click. "You come crawling back already?"

"I know you know what happened." I told him crossing my arms over myself in a self conscious move. Another thing I'd never felt around him. "My entire family is gone, please… help me."

Logan sat on top the cluttered desk, seizing me up with a look that told me he knew everything already. "Hmmm…. Biker boyfriend is gone…. You come see me for help. Funny how that works out."

"Don't be an ass. I need your help, I know things didn't end well…. But please. Its not just him. My Dad, brother, uncles."

"Some paperwork might be missing from their charges. Might have gotten lost when it came through to be filed." Logan shrugged his shoulders carelessly, the polo with the city logo on it rising and falling with him. "Don't know if I could even find it… without a major effort."

So it was Logan holding up the case like Rosen had said. I frowned putting the pieces together in my mind. "Did you put your Dad up to raising the bail that high too?"

Logan smiled, it was his normal happy smile, but I knew it wasn't meant for me in a nice way. "Why would you even think that? We're honest, clean working individuals around here. Unlike your own father…"

I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that were fighting to escape. "Logan please… don't be this way."

"You hurt me. You were fucking around with that Mohawked idiot for a while weren't you? I should have known by how… distant you'd became. But I thought Carter would tell me. Guess I was wrong there. Can't even trust my best friend anymore now that you're crew has gotten to him."

"So you decided to hurt me while you could huh?" The tears were falling now. I wiped them away with the back of my hand hating myself for letting him see me so weak.

To my shock Logan grabbed a tissue, reached over and wiped my cheeks for me. Gently. "Maybe so. Maybe I thought I'd have a real chance at you with him away for good."

My blue eyes widened at his words. He'd actually thought that having Juice in prison would mean he'd get me back. "Well you don't." I pushed his hands away, not wanting him to touch me. My skin was crawling already from nerves, I didn't need to add to it.

"Too bad then. Guess your Old Man and his buddies don't have a chance either." Logan smirked stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Isn't this how it works in your world? You hurt someone, they retaliate?"

I knew what he wanted. What I needed to say. I had to weigh this out carefully and fast. What was more important, getting Juice out alive, or being loyal to him?

I took a step towards him before letting myself fall into him. He wrapped his bulky arms around my frame in an instant, rubbing my back. "I knew you'd see things my way." He whispered kissing my hair. "I get the paperwork back in place, tell my old man to drop the bail down with supervision of course, and then you come back to me. Good girl."

I shut my eyes letting all the tears fall out now. "Do whatever you have to…. Just get them out Logan. Please."

"Oh trust me I will. I'm a man of my word." He tugged on my dark hair pulling my head back for a kiss.

Forcing myself, I squeezed my eyes shut and let his lips press against mine hungrily. "Now, I have phone calls to make. Come to my place tonight around 7. I'll make us dinner while we plan you moving in."

I nodded not arguing back when he released me from his grip. "Let me know when to get them." I whispered trying to regain some composure before I went back out through the office.

I walked through, keeping my head down, not wanting this to become anyone's business but ours. I waited to get to the car before taking out my phone to call Mom. "Mom? He's going to do it. I don't know when it'll be."

"Thank god. I just saw Elliot, he wouldn't help. Bastard." Mom sighed, I could hear Abel in the background with his baby talk. "What'd you have to do for him?"

She was smart. She knew Logan wouldn't just do something nice for me. "Nothing. Just… something I need to talk to Juice about." I lied not wanting to admit I'd just sold myself for the club. "I have to go by the apartment, I'll see you soon."

No sooner did I pull into the parking lot did the phone start ringing. I frowned not recognizing the number. I turned the radio down answering it cautiously. "Hello?" I greeted cautiously.

"Hello, I'm looking for Miss Morrow. This is Officer Cobb from the San Joaquin correctional facility." A pleasant sounding female replied all business.

"This is her." I felt the waves rolling inside of me again.

"We have your number down as a next-of for Juan Carlos Ortiz, I need to let you know he's been moved to St. Thomas for injuries and you're permitted a visit given his condition."

My hands started shaking as I pictured off of the terrifying things that might have happened to him. Jesus… they'd only been in jail a few hours. I knew now making whatever deal I had with Logan was worth it if Juice would be okay. "What happened?"

"I can't go into details, but I just thought I'd call and let you know. Have a good day."

I tossed the phone into the passenger seat determined not to cry again today. I couldn't go into the hospital upset and get Juice more upset. I didn't even remember driving there, I just knew in minutes I was walking hurriedly down the corridor to the main desk to see where he was at and what had happened to him. I could only guess that Dad had given me as Juice's contact, he didn't exactly have anyone else that I knew of.

Carrie, a nurse I'd chatted to a few times was behind the desk when I practically ran to it. "I need to know where Juan Ortiz is." I blurted out knowing I looked frantic and crazy. "Please."

She studied me for a moment before nodding and leaning down to type into the computer. "He's in recovery. Room 4 through those doors." She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I just went in there."

I rushed down the hall, not even pausing to knock on the door before I pushed it open. Juice was propped in the hospital bed, his eyes shut. They had the blankets pulled up completely over him so I couldn't tell at first glance what had happened to him. I grabbed his chart off the wall scanning it over for details. Two stab wounds in the back, centimeters off from his lung, punctured intestines. Surgery done to close up. My mouth was opened in horror, someone had shivved him. And almost succeeded in what they'd tried to do. I slid the chart back into place and moved closer to his bed, touching his hand.

Juice looked completely at peace asleep from the anesthesia from his surgery. I noticed the handcuff they had on his other hand, keeping him stuck to the hospital bed. I doubted he'd even think about running when he woke up, but apparently the prison was making sure there was no chance of it. I pulled the chair as close as I could get it to the bed and laid my head down beside his thigh. Everything was a wreck. Juice, Chibs, and Half Sack were all in the hospital. Only Opie and Piney were out of prison, along with Carter. Half Sack would be ready for action, literally, tomorrow but this was just getting too bad.

"Juice… I made a mess out of everything today." I whispered knowing he was asleep and couldn't hear a word I was saying. "Logan wouldn't help me… unless I went to him. I don't want to. Things are getting out of hand in Charming."

I must have fallen asleep because it felt like hours later when I woke up to Juice's uncuffed hand stroking my hair back. "Aleah…" the way he said it it was almost a tease, a drawl in his thick New York accent that showed up whenever he was tired or overly excited about something.

I lifted my head up rubbing my eyes. "Hey baby…." Juice smiled, he had to be the only person I knew that could get shivved and still manage a smile like that. "I wasn't expecting to wake up to you."

"God… Juice I was so scared." I whispered to him touching his dark cheek. "The prison called and didn't tell me what happened. I had to go through your chart to see what it was. I thought…." I trailed off not wanting to say what I'd thought.

"Hey…. You're not getting rid of me that easy this time." Juice grinned, I could see in his eyes he was in pain though when he tried to move around. "I'm fine. Just a little accident."

I knew it wasn't just a little accident. "Your escorts standing outside the door. But he can't hear in here if you want to tell me what happened."

He shook his head, the smile leaving his face. "Maybe later. Right now.. I want some pain pills."

I hit the call button for the nurse and stood up, patting down my bed head. It was getting dark outside, I really had fallen asleep for hours. Carrie came in all smiles and cheerful force for us. "Time for medicine?" she asked Juice holding up two syringes in her hands. "I need to get your vitals too."

"You think after that I can use the bathroom?" He asked nodding at the handcuff. "Or does this nifty little bracelet mean I have to use a bedpan?"

Carrie pushed the needle into his IV paying close attention to what she was doing. "I'll have to get someone in here to help get you up. I don't think you're supposed to be up moving around just yet."

Juice looked a little kid that'd been told no at a toy store. "I think I'm capable of taking myself to the bathroom 6 feet away from the bed."

"I'll help him." I spoke up getting a scowl from him. I knew how degrading it was for him to accept help from a female. "I mean… I'm sure he'd rather me be in there than someone else."

After some convincing of the guard, we had Juice uncuffed. He rubbed his wrist where the metal had ground into it leaving a cut from the angle. "Come on handsome, lets get you up." Carrie smiled taking one arm while I took the other. Juice was gave me a slight glare before pushing himself off the hospital bed, hunching a little bit.

"I can walk." He practically growled at us taking baby steps to the door. "Leave me alone."

We exchanged looks, watching him carefully as he hobbled his way into the bathroom, shutting the door. "I hope he doesn't fall down in there." Carrie whispered looking worried.

We heard a few clangs then flushing, it took him a while but he came back out hobbling over again. "Think I can get something to eat?"

"Soup and jello is it." Carrie told him earning another dirty look from him. "Your intestines need to heal, we don't want to traumatize you by letting you eat something solid too soon."

I pulled the blanket back over him, helping him get settled into the bed, arranging his IV lines back for him from where we had to roll the little cart with him. He slowly let himself lay back down, wincing a little bit when his back hit the bed. I gave his hand a little squeeze, frowning at him being in pain even after the meds. We waited to talk again until Carrie left to go hunt down his soup and jello.

"Juice… what in the hell were you guys thinking holding up a church?" I asked softly knowing this had to be something major.

Juice shifted around, turning his TV on. "The guys that hurt you, Otto, and Chibs were there." he said simply. "They hurt us, so we wanted to hurt them. Only we got caught."

"You gonna tell me who stabbed you?"

He sighed, that tired face returning to him, I knew I'd have to go soon and let him rest. "A member of the AB, they got me on my way back in to the yard after I went to the infirmary for…. Something."

I didn't ask what something was, I was grateful for what he'd just spilled after saying he didn't want to earlier. "The guys are supposed to get out."

"How? We heard there was a hang up." He asked looking confused. "Rosen came by."

"I talked to Rosen too…. Then I talked to Logan." I knew I should wait to talk about this with him, but I really didn't want to do it when he could actually go out and rip Logan into a million pieces. That'd cause more problems. "He…said he'd help get you guys out. He had your paperwork. His dad's the judge."

Juice nodded, he already knew who Logan was from his background check. "And what'd you have to give him?" He asked quietly his dark eyes cloudy.

"He wants me.. Back with him. I told him I'd do whatever I had to. I lied Juice. I had to do what I could to try to get you out of there. We couldn't come up with enough money."

A knock sounded on the door and Carrie came in carrying the tray. "I hate to do this… but your visiting time is way over." She said apologetically. "I'll see if he can have visitors again tomorrow since he's stable."

I gave her a grateful smile, standing up from the chair beside Juice's bed. "I'll be back tomorrow if they let me."

He stirred his thick yellowish broth around with the plastic spoon on the tray. "Can you let the guys know I'm okay? And…. Stay close to Carter or your Dad if he's home. Away from Logan."

It was as blunt as he could talk with someone else in the room. "Promise. I'm going to your place for a while though if you don't mind." I leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I love you… don't get into anymore trouble."

"Love you too." He grinned breaking the tension between us since I told him about Logan.

I turned my phone back on once I was out of the hospital, dreading to see what kind of messages would be waiting for me. Mom called, Logan called, and Tara called. I dialed Mom first going to TM to check on things there. It'd been backed up and busy when I'd left after meeting Rosen. "Hey… I was at the hospital with Juice. He had an accident." I explained when she picked up.

"I heard. Everyone's out, they just got here. Oswald posted bail, so I hope you didn't promise that paper pusher anything too major."

Thank god. I could have kissed Elliot Oswald on the lips for this. "Are the rest… okay?"

"They're fine baby. Dad and Jax are a little roughed up but that's from each other. Just wanted to update you. I'll go with you to check on Juice and Chibs tomorrow."

"Thanks Mom… listen I'm going to stay over at Juice's place tonight. Give you and Dad some time alone, I don't want to go back to the apartment yet." I sighed, not at our conversation but the right turn I'd just made. I was heading to the edge of town that bordered the reservation. "I gotta go."

I hung up, going down the long winding driveway to a house I knew too well. It was a nice place, built brand new for its owner as a graduation gift. The bright yellow Lancer was a birthday present. And the man inside was the devil I'd sold my soul to to get the club out of jail. I looked in the rearview mirror at my reflection before shaking my head at myself. What was I doing here? The guys were out, Juice was okay, I could walk away like we'd never made the deal.

The door opened to the garage of the house on the side, Logan stepped out waving at me with a huge grin on his face. I climbed out of the car forcing myself to smile at him. "Hi…." I greeted him walking slowly towards him.

He flipped the meat over that he had on the grill quickly, shutting the lid. "I tried calling. A few times." It sounded more like an accusation than a statement from the tone he used. "But you're here now."

"Yeah.. I am." I didn't elaborate on where I'd been at to him. Something was off with Logan, he seemed… wound up. "What'd you make?" I nodded at the grill.

"Steaks. I threw some veggies on for you too." Logan slid his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him. "See how perfect this is? The two of us grilling after work together…. Just imagine what it'd be like if you moved in."

I didn't push him away, I wasn't stupid. Logan could have the guys bail jerked out from underneath them with a blink of an eye. He had the connections to make it happen. Instead, I leaned into him trying not to cringe. Juice would kill me if he knew where I was at right now. "Maybe in a few months. I'm not ready for that."

Logan rubbed the skin between my jeans and my shirt gently, almost too gently actually. "We'll see how things go. I wanted to do some remodeling anyways."

I fought back a laugh at him wanting to remodel. His house was literally 8 years old. "Sounds nice. I heard Carter and Jess are changing up their place too."

"Mmmmhmmm. The guest house wasn't exactly built for anything more than that. A guest house. Guess his mom wants to make sure their grandchild is comfortable out there." Logan replied not turning me loose from his hold. "Don't think Carter will ever leave from over there."

I couldn't take the smell of his cologne anymore. I pushed him away slowly, showing it wasn't a sign of aggression. "Can I use the bathroom?" I asked him wanting to keep away from him as much as possible.

"Yeah, you know where everything is. Use mine or the guest one." He offered going back to his grill.

I let myself into Logan's house, it really was a nice place. Whoever snagged him would be getting a pretty good catch. The house had 4 rooms, not including his living room, den, and kitchen with a separate dining room. The first time I'd ever been inside I knew he hadn't been the one to decorate it. It was too… show room for a bachelor his age. I walked through his room, glancing around curiously. It was picked up, everything in its place, except for some papers he'd thrown on top of the dresser. I grabbed them up looking them over. It was the signed letter of bail agreement between his father and the bondsman. He'd kept his word.

I laid them back down, careful to put them back exactly like he'd had them, he didn't need to know I was snooping. I heard him slam the garage door and took off into the bathroom quickly, turning the water on for show. It was hospital sterile in here too. The bleach smell was overpowering in a way. I dried my hands off on the towel hanging on the holder beside the sink wondering how I'd ever gotten involved with someone so…. Different. Our worlds were completely opposite from each other. Then I remembered… Jessica. She'd insisted on us meeting and going out. Now she wasn't even speaking to me.

"Hey Aleah? The foods done!" Logan called out.

"Coming" I opened the door up doing the walk of dread to his kitchen. He'd fixed me a glass of wine beside my plate. "Thanks for the wine."

He nodded his blonde hair falling across his forehead when he leaned over me to give me a knife. Oh boy… if he only knew what I really wanted to cut up with this knife. I started in on my food realizing how hungry I was. I hadn't stopped long enough to eat or drink all day. "So… I'm going to add on a pool out back I think."

I shrugged, not caring what he did with his house. I didn't even plan on coming back after tonight. "Sounds good to me."

"Everything okay?" He asked spearing a piece of broccoli with his fork. "I have other stuff if you don't want this."

"No its good. I'm just taking my time. Its been a long day." I gave him a smile. "So… is everything taken care of then?"

Logan's eyes flashed dark for a split second, the strangeness I'd noticed earlier coming back. "Its handled. I pushed the papers through, then Elliot Oswald posted bail before I had it lowered. But I held up my end of the deal Aleah. You better stick to yours."

I pushed my dinner roll around in the butter with the knife. "You only got half of it done."

"No, I'd arranged it already. He just beat me to it. So don't get any ideas on backing out darling." Logan lifted his own glass of wine up, taking a long drink. "You said you'd come back to me. And you're here. Looks like you already decided anyways."

I didn't answer him, I just took another bite of my steak chewing deliberately slow. Logan finished before I did, but waited patiently for me to get done before loading the dishwasher. I smirked when his back was turned, guess the maid didn't do last nights dishes. I finished off my wine going to lean in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, watching him carefully. "I'm going to head home. I'm exhausted."

Logan hit the on button before turning around, his normal smile on his face again. "You could stay the night. Like old times." He suggested crossing the room faster than I could blink. His arms were back around my waist pulling me against him.

"I don't think so." I kept my head down, away from his knowing he'd want to kiss me goodbye.

"Why not? We could consummate our new start." He whispered in my ear, hands traveling to my butt. I could feel him rubbing it through my jeans. "You know you want to."

"I don't. Not tonight… " I whispered back a shiver of fear went through my body when he pushed my head back to kiss me.

Logan pressed his lips against mine roughly, rougher than he'd ever been with me. Rough wasn't something I ever associated with him , boy had I been wrong. I shoved my hands between us, trying to push him back but he grabbed my wrists holding my hands tightly. He thrust his tongue into my mouth hard, so hard his teeth hit my bottom lip stinging it. "Oww.." I whimpered feeling completely helpless.

"I'm sorry baby. I really am. I just…. Missed you." Logan whispered still holding my wrists in his grip. "Come on, lets do this right. I'll be gentle like always. I swear."

He went back to kissing me, this time he bit down on my neck hard enough to leave a spot. It was something I normally loved but now, I was terrified of him.

My bottom lip quivered along with the tremble that shook through my body. "No Logan… I can't…." I shook my head getting a soft kiss on the lips from him in response. "Logan…"

His mouth covered mine again, silencing me. I squeezed my eyes shut letting myself kiss him back, hoping that'd be enough to convince him. I went rigid when he released one of my hands to slide his own up my shirt. "Stop… its too soon after…"

Logan's hand froze where it was at. "Are you still sore from that? Is that what it is baby?"

I nodded, the idea blooming in my mind. "Yes.. They… did things." I lied using a softer tone. "I can't… do this. Not yet. I'm sorry."

He released me, hugging me instead. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that…. I don't know what came over me. I just… want you so bad. I want you to be with me."

"I am with you honey. I'm right here." I touched his cheek trying to show him I cared. "I came to you didn't I? I'm not at the clubhouse with Juice."

"You are. Maybe you should still stay, I'll hold you like you always wanted me to." He reasoned playing with my hair.

I touched my lip where he'd bruised it, no doubt split it too. "I need to go home. Gizmo's alone."

Logan nodded, understanding coming across his face now. "Okay Lee. But you'll come back tomorrow."

"I have to work tomorrow night." I told him making sure to note if I didn't, I found somewhere else to be besides home. "I.. gotta go…"

"I'll walk you out." Logan took my hand in his, his hand was soft and smooth unlike Juice's rough and calloused one. "Tomorrow we'll go somewhere. I might just pick you up."

I took a deep breath of the night air. I wasn't sure if what had just happened qualified as near rape, but it sure as hell felt like it. And now my attacker was wanting to take me to dinner tomorrow night. "I'll have to see. Thanks for dinner…. And helping my Dad out."

Logan opened the door to the Fusion for me, standing there while I got buckled in and started the car. "No problem. I had my own interests in it…. I don't want to lose you Aleah. I won't." He leaned down and kissed me. "You're with me now, not that biker. I expect you to act like it, or that bail might just have to have a continuance hearing done."

His threat was loud and clear… play along or he'd call game over. I nodded like I was agreeing with him. "Bye Logan."

"Night Aleah. I love you." He shut the door gently staying where he was at when I backed out, going down his stupidly long driveway. Who the hell would waste money planting this many trees anyways? The tears started when I got back on the main road. He'd almost…. I shook my head crying harder until I had to pull over. I stopped in the parking lot of Charming Fitness, it was mostly empty but I didn't care if anyone saw me crying at this point. I was in a hole so deep I couldn't climb out if I tried.

I slumped over in the drivers seat, bawling my eyes out until someone rapped on the window hard. I jumped grabbing for my purse instinctively, peering out to see who it was. I relaxed my reach for my purse and hit the down button for the window instead. Carter was leaned down looking at me, dressed in gym shorts and a very tight, form fitting beater. "Hey. You ok?"

"I'm fine." I managed to say trying to tell myself more than him.

"You don't look okay." Carter frowned tilting his head to get a better look at me. "What happened to your lip?"

My hand flew up to touch the sore spot, it stung some still. "I bit it… it was an accident." I lied leaving my hand in front of my mouth.

"Logan said you were going to his place tonight for dinner and to talk. He do that?" Carter asked a little bit more pressing this time.

I shook my head fast. I didn't want Logan, didn't have feelings for him anymore, was hurt over the way he'd treated me, but I didn't want him killed either. "No.. just an accident." I shifted around in my seat to see him better. "Do me a favor and don't tell anyone about me going over there."

Carter pushed my hands away from my mouth looking at the sore again, then pushed my head to the side noticing the bite mark there too. "I think he did do this. He didn't… do anything else did he?" He ignored my request completely, like I hadn't even said the words.

"I told you no."

"I'm not going to tell Juice if he did." He tried again to get me to admit it to him. "I swear it."

If I knew Carter half as well as I thought I did, then when he said he wouldn't tell Juice, he really wouldn't. He was the guy that knew when to keep quiet about things. Finally, I nodded my head yes. "Carter… its my fault. I shouldn't have went there."

He squatted down beside the drivers side door, the rings he'd started wearing glittering. "You went to him to get the club out didn't you?"

I nodded, glad for once I had my emotions in check. Crying had become second nature to breathing. "I didn't know what else to do. He had the papers Rosen needed to post bail when we found the money. And.. His dad controlled how much the bail was set for."

"I know. I know all about how that family works." Carter reminded me looking thoughtful. "I know that nothing they do comes without a price for someone else too."

I leaned back in the seat sighing loudly. "I made a mess out of things. At the time it seemed like a good idea, like I had no choice. Like all that mattered was getting them out alive. Now… Logan won't let me back out of my end of the deal."

"Your end being you go back to him instead of Juice." He stated his eyes hitting mine before looking away. "Logan's…. not what you think he is Aleah. I shouldn't have ever let you get involved with him. I knew better… but he seemed to be treating you okay. And you were happy with him. Not strung out like you were with Juice, so I thought it'd be okay. I didn't know he'd…."

"Neither did I Carter. Its not your fault either." I motioned at myself. "How in the hell do I explain this to Juice tomorrow?"

Carter sat back, not squatting anymore, not caring he was sitting on the hard pavement. "We'll think up something. I'll handle Logan though ok? I'll talk to him, see if I can't back him off without the guys hurting him. This shit is…" He sighed looking as torn as I felt. "He's my best friend. But Juice is my brother."

"Juice told me not to go around Logan when I told him I'd went to him for help getting them out." I admitted knowing how bad that sounded. You didn't admit you disobeyed your Old Man to anyone, especially not another brother. I wasn't technically an Old Lady, but I knew I was in a position that everyone would say I knew better than to ignore what Juice said to do. "He told me to go to you or Dad. I was planning on going to Logan's then going to Juice's place."

"What if… what if we just tell him the truth? And I'll tell him I took care of Logan on my own. He might let it go with all this other shit we have going on. Its too thick for him to get off course in."

That made me feel a little uneasy. Juice was going to be livid with me. "I guess we can. What are you going to do to Logan?"

"Don't worry about that. Just go home, lock the doors, and keep that 38 close." He instructed me standing up from the ground stretching his legs out. "I gotta get going. Jess is waiting for me."

"Thanks Carter, for not… flipping out. Or telling Juice."

He nodded grabbing his gym bag from the pavement, slinging it over his shoulder. "You should call Jess. She misses you." He gave me a wave and a small grin backing off towards his Tahoe, no Harley tonight.

I rolled the window back up, locking the doors for good measure before going to Juice's house. I missed Jessica too, but if she wasn't speaking to me why should I speak to her? I didn't see how we could be friends until her and Juice came to an understanding. Their jibes had to stop somewhere. I let myself in Juice's house flipping the deadbolt behind me then put the chain on before going to his room. His answering machine was blinking red at me, I wasn't sure if I should listen or not though so I left it alone. Staying alone at Juice's place wasn't too bad. I made it through the night without getting so scared I called Dad to send someone over, I slept enough to be early at the hospital for visiting hours.

Juice was awake and all grins when I made it to his room. "Morning beautiful." He started happily when I came through the door. His face fell when he saw my lip. "What the hell happened to you?"

I dropped my stuff down in the visitors chair, going to sit on the foot of his bed. It didn't look like he'd moved much around since I'd left last night. "I'll tell you if… you don't get mad." I told him nervously. "But I know you will be."

"What happened?" He demanded sitting up a little bit more. "Spill it."

I lowered my eyes, going into the details of what had went on when I left the night before finishing with Carter saying he'd handle Logan. Juice's eyes were narrowed and angry, with him huffing. "I told you not to go around him." He snapped angrily. "You didn't listen to me."

"I know, I know it was stupid to go alone but I needed his help, to help the club."

"The club can take care of itself." Juice shook his head, eyes blazing. "We did something bad, we went to jail. We don't need Old Ladies trying to look after us."

"But I'm not…"

Juice stopped me with a single look. "You're not an Old Lady? But you're going to be. Maybe. I don't know now. You can't even do what I tell you to Aleah."

It sunk in. Juice didn't want me back as just a girlfriend, but as his Old Lady. That was something major, very major. Especially for me, I'd never even thought we'd get this far much less become an Old Lady. "I'm sorry Juice. I was just trying to help."

"And now, our bond might be screwed if Carter didn't fix that shit." He scowled at me pulling his hand away. "If I say something, I don't just say it to be a dick to you. I'm trying to keep you safe, protect you."

"I know. I just… tried to help. I was scared when you were in there. Dad, Happy, Tig, they've done hard time… I was worried." I said softly relaxing a little when he touched my hand with his. "I can't lose you like that."

Juice opened one arm up, the best he could offer me at the moment and I took the hint going to snuggle beside him awkwardly in the narrow bed. "I can handle prison Lee. I've been before, you know that. I'm tough. Tougher than I look."

I nodded trying not to lean on him too much. The last thing I needed to do was disturb his wounds. "I know that. I still worry."

"Well don't. The only thing I need you to do is keep away from that crazy ex of yours until I get out." He kissed my cheek softly, his lips were dry and cracked feeling. "And maybe think about what being an Old Lady is."

The knock on the door broke the moment we were having, it was Carrie on duty coming to check Juice's vitals. "Good afternoon." She smiled at me pushing the thermometer in his mouth. "He's doing really good. We just need his stool to clear up."

I made a face at the over share. We were pretty open with each other about everything, but some things just needed to be kept to ourselves. "I have to get to work upstairs, but I'll come back down before I go to Mom's." I rolled my eyes remembering her phone call from earlier that morning. "Family dinner tonight."

"Wish I could go. These people are starving me." He complained a grin on his face when Carrie gave him a sharp look. "I'll see you when you're done Lee. Love you."

"Love you." I blew him a kiss with a smile of my own before heading off to the nursery. I made it up there just in time to see Tara arguing with Margaret. I ducked my head keeping out of it completely. I knew Mom was probably in with Chibs, she'd made plans to come visit him then Juice today playing the role of Queen and mother hen all at once.

I clocked in humming a little while I made my rounds checking on everyone. Work was easy as pie today, only 4 babies were in the nursery and two of them were being breastfed so that meant nothing to do really. I took my lunch break late around 5 in the evening knowing I wasn't going to eat anyways. Mom had plans for a pot roast and the works for dinner. I didn't see her when she dropped by, but Tara did and she was beyond pissed with her for cornering Margaret. I didn't blame her, we had to have our jobs, club or no club, we had to work. Tara wasn't a Son, she had to work with the outside.

I walked down to the local coffee shop, careful to look for Logan. He knew my schedule and if he could, he'd stop by. I made sure not to tell anyone where I was going when I'd clocked out. I grabbed my vanilla frap after tossing a dollar in the tip jar on the counter. I'd kill for this town to get a Starbucks . I was walking back out when I heard someone call out to me. "Miss Morrow?"

The lady that had called to me was family. Too familiar. This was Agent Stahl. She'd avoided talking to me or Mom the last time she'd been in town, now it looked like we were about to have our confrontation in the public eye. "Yes?"

She smiled at me, it was a too sweet knowing smile. "Thought I'd see how you were holding up, with all of the…. Drama that's been surrounding you. I heard your boyfriends in the hospital."

I gave her a cold stare tightening my fingers around my cup. "I'm fine. Thanks for your concern." I turned to leave.

"So tell me then, how is it you're dating him, and Judge Turner's son at the same time? Heard he helped pull a few strings to get your other boyfriend out of the slammer. Too bad it was too late to save him from his injuries." Agent Stahl's smile never waved when she spoke. I wanted to knock it off of her face.

"I don't think its any of your business who I'm dating. Ms. Stahl." I refused to address her as Agent. I gave her a smile back. "But maybe you should try finding someone. Might improve your mood." I started for the door again fully intent of leaving this time.

She stopped me again with her words letting me take just a few steps away. "It's a shame. Pretty girl like you, educated too, getting mixed up in all of this. Cheating boyfriend, lying father, brother out for your fathers blood. Maybe one day you can get yourself out of their criminal enterprise."

I whirled around, blazing. I knew people were starting to stare at our little exchange but I didn't give a damn. "If I were you, I'd worry more about going after the real criminals. Leave the Old Ladies to deal with the cheaters, liars, and whatnot. I have to get back to work now." I stormed off through the swinging glass door. How in the hell did she know those things? Only the club knew Logan helped me.

I stewed for the rest of my shift, it was a good thing I worked with patients that couldn't speak because I knew I was in a terrible mood for bedside manner tonight. I stayed grumpy until I got off and went to Juice's room. He was sound asleep, snoring lightly. I just smiled and shut the door again not wanting to wake him. He needed to rest while he could, there was no telling what would be happening when he got released.

Mom's house already had bikes and a few cars parked out front when I got there a little after 8. I waved to Opie and Lyla on my way in, Lyla was obviously upset over something. I slipped in the back door grabbing a carrot off the pot roast when I walked past it. "I'm here."

Mom nodded motioning for me to help Neeta carry everything in. Tara looked pissed still, Lyla looked pissed, Jax, Opie, and Dad looked pissed too. "Can I do anything to-"

The fight broke out suddenly, Tig and Bobby lunging for each other with Happy shoving them apart. My eyes widened going to stand behind Ellie and Kenny. This place was a circus tonight. I looked to the door next when David Hale let himself in. "Excuse me folks, I hate to interrupt but I thought I should tell you this in person. We just found Luann Delany off hwy 18. Beaten to death. There are no other details right now. Sorry."

Everyone went silent and still for a moment in shock before the fighting erupted again. Dad and Jax were in each others faces shouting. I glanced back to Mom knowing she'd be taking this the hardest. Her and Luann had been friends for years. Mom picked up the platter slamming it down into the table sending meat and ceramic flying everywhere.

"You should all go." She finally said her voice cracking. "We'll do this another time. I'm sorry." Then she took off up the stairs.

I looked at Dad, catching his eye to see if I should go up or if he was. He nodded to me once then I took off after her. I couldn't stand to see this woman hurt like this, she'd been too good to me to deal with everything that happened to her lately. And now she'd lost her best friend too.


End file.
